Sweet Night, Die Of Fright
by Alariel
Summary: Ghoulies and Ghosties and Long Legged Beasties and Things that go bump in the night! This story has been written specifically for Halloween so be prepared for a scare or two. COMPLETE.
1. A Dark And Stormy Night

This story was written in the spirit of Halloween and will be nine chapters long, posted on Mondays and Thursdays throughout October with the final chapter posted on Halloween and the Epilogue posted on the following Tuesday. I will warn you now that this will be a dark story and you should pay attention to every word because if you don't, you might miss a vital clue. Very little of what is written was not written without the intentions of deception, redirection or subterfuge in mind. And so, without further ado, I present my story ... Sweet Night, Die Of Fright.

* * *

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man.  
It is a dimension as vast as space, and as timeless as infinity.  
It is the middle ground between light and shadow  
-- between man's grasp and his reach;  
between science and superstition;  
between the pit of his fears and the sunlight of his knowledge.  
This is the dimension of imagination.  
It is an area that might be called -  
The Twilight Zone.

* * *

Chapter One

A Dark and Stormy Night

This night was a rare night, and the one night of the year when the veil between the unseen world and the world of the living was at its thinnest, when there was the greatest chance of seeing shadows move when nobody was about, hearing noises where there ought not to be any and maybe - just maybe - witnessing what ought not to be witnessed. Sanity could be strained and nerves could be stretched and played on by unseen fingers that heard beautiful music in the shrieks that resulted from nocturnal journeys.

It was a rare night, indeed, this night in Imladris, for on this night something was happening that had not happened in an age and which could very well spell the doom of the beautiful elven realm and all who dwelt there. The three sons of Elrond, Anayah and the Mirkwood Prince were under one roof - all at the same time - and that fact alone, could very well lead to the end of all things.

Elladan, Elrohir, Aragorn, Anayah and Legolas had planned an evening of entertainment for themselves. They planned a night in front of a blazing fire, roasting and eating different varieties of nuts and drinking fruit drinks while telling stories, and seeing who could scare whom the best.

The adults, Elrond, Thranduil, Glorfindel and Gandalf were in Elrond's sitting room sipping on fine wine and generally relaxing from their duties in the various elven realms and in Gandalf's case, anywhere he happened to be at the moment.

Greyfell was home for a short holiday before he met with some new young Rangers who were to begin training with him, and he and the Guards were sitting in the common area, exchanging stories, laughing and generally enjoying a pleasant evening.

Suddenly, everything got deathly quiet. Outside the Last Homely House the wind quieted, not gradually, but all at once. The rain stopped beating at the windows and the beautiful full moon hid itself behind a thick cloud, stealing the light from the landscape below until everything was shrouded in darkness.

Everyone paused in what they were doing, voices stilled and all movement ceased. The room's candle light began to flicker as if moved by a breeze and in the other rooms, papers lifted off tables and swirled away as the ethereal breeze made its way through the house.

Then the silence in the family's sitting area was broken by the sound of a sarcastic voice.

"Ok. That was not funny ... Gandalf!"

With the speaking of the last word, the name of the grey wizard, Anayah had turned her head toward the doorway and had raised her voice. From the general direction of Elrond's sitting room, a faint voice replied.

"It wasn't me, young one."

"Of course not." Anayah said much more quietly as she turned back to the others and winked.

"Elladan, I think it was your turn to tell a story."

Aragorn threw a roasted nut at his oldest brother to encourage him to get on with the telling of his story. Elladan made himself more comfortable then began.

8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

"A millennia ago, right in this very house, a human man disappeared and was never seen again although some say that they have seen his spirit roaming the halls while trying to open every door he passes.

There was a time, before the race of man began to look upon the race of Eldar with suspicion, when humans would come to Imladris to work. Their company was enjoyable and it offered the elves a different perspective on the world outside of elven territory. The humans enjoyed working with the elves for they learned many things from them that they would normally never be exposed to. The arts - poetry, metal working, gardening - they loved to learn and the elves loved to teach. It was a wonderful time in our lives and we look upon the memory with much fondness.

There was this one human who had this outstanding capacity for getting lost in the most common places. When we would finally find him, he would tell these fanciful tales about a huge house that had hundreds of rooms. He claimed that he never knew how he got to this place, only that he would blink and there he was. He said he could hear other peoples' voices as if from far off but he could never tell just what they were saying. Apparently, some of the voices were crying sadly but even though he would try to find them so he could try to give aid, he was never able to find where these sad voices were coming from.

Once in awhile he would see a light shining out from underneath one of the doors but the doors to these rooms were always locked and try as he may, he could never get them opened. After a time, he would come to this long hallway and at the far end he could see a large, dark door. This door was much larger than any of the other doors that he had encountered whenever he was there and he knew with great certainty, that that particular door led back home - at least he thought it did.

The human would walk as quickly as he could toward the door but could never get any closer to it. Then, just when he found himself out of breath from his efforts, and on the brink of despair, thinking he would never reach his goal, he would suddenly find himself standing in front of the door. His hand would reach toward the latch and as it did, he would suddenly get this overwhelming feeling of danger, that something horrible and hideous stood on the other side. He trembled and sweat would run down his face as his hand got closer and closer to the latch.

Then, just as his hand touched the latch, and he started to turn it ... he would blink and find himself back at Imladris, with elves standing around, looking at him with concern. This would happen every once in awhile and the elves tried to keep track of him while he was working for they had no explanation for what was happening to the man. Then one day, he was just gone ... nobody could explain it. They never saw him alive again although over the centuries, elves would claim that they would occasionally see him walking the hallways of this very house.

So if you hear footsteps or see a shadow moving from door to door, just point to the front door and hope that if he walks through it, he will finally find his way back home."

Just as Elladan finished his story, every light in the room went out. There was silence and an occasional giggle - and not just from Anayah.

"We are not amused." Anayah said sarcastically from somewhere in the darkness.

Legolas grabbed a poker from beside the fireplace and rearranged the wood until it was once again adding some light to the darkened room. Both twins and Aragorn went from candle to candle in the room but try as they may, the candles refused to burn as they had before they had guttered and died out although they did provide a small amount of subdued lighting.

"I'm going to get some different candles." Aragorn said as he started for the door. "There seems to be something wrong with these."

Elladan frowned.

"Then why were they working fine earlier?"

"Uh ... brothers ... Legolas … Anayah ... anyone ... I can't get the door open."

Aragorn tugged on the door which was refusing to open.

"Do you want me to blast it with a fireball?"

Aragorn's eyes showed his irritation as he turned toward his sister.

"Only if you want to spend the next two centuries locked in your room, Anayah - Ada would have a heart attack. Perhaps less sarcasm and more help would serve our cause better."

He turned back to the door then together with the twins and Legolas, continued to try and open it, looking closely at all parts to try and determine why it would not open.

Then without any warning whatsoever, it swung open and they all jumped backwards, screaming like a group of females.

Holding his hand over his wildly beating heart, Aragorn sat down on a nearby chair.

"Anayah, that was not even remotely funny."

Anayah gave her brother her best imitation of an innocent smile as she walked into the room.

"You wanted help, dear brother, and since none of you 'males' remembered that the balcony's walkway eventually comes out beside the house and hence to the front door and etcetera, I thought I would just take advantage of the moment and lend a hand before you three got a hangnail. By-the-way, there was nothing wrong with the door from that side." She motioned toward the common room with her head.

She was walking over to her seat by the fire when all of a sudden the balcony door and the door leading to the rest of the house suddenly slammed shut. All five of them froze, their eyes wide. Not a breeze stirred inside the room, while outside, the moon still hid behind the clouds and no rain touched the earth even though lightning split the sky and thunder rocked the heavens.

"Ok. Now I am getting wierded out by all this." She lowered her voice and started peering into the shadows. When she turned back to her brothers and Legolas, she took a few steps toward them and whispered ominously. "I think we are not alone."

Suddenly the door to the family room swung open so hard that its momentum forced it into the wall where it bounced back and would have closed again, if Rahan had not caught it and stopped further movement.

Anayah screamed and jumped up on the couch and grabbed Legolas around the neck with one of her arms and held on tight. Legolas screamed and grabbed onto Anayah around the waist for now that she was standing on the couch, she was a little taller than he was. Elladan and Elrohir screamed and grabbed onto each other with Aragorn somewhere in the middle of the two, desperately trying to breathe.

Rahan stood in the doorway looking at the five frightened beings in front of him while behind him, the other three Guards and Greyfell stood watching as well. Finally, the Captain walked fully into the room followed by the others. He spent a moment looking at Anayah who finally realized what she was doing and let go of Legolas who blushed and did the same.

"We heard screams." Was all Rahan said.

The other three Guards were looking around the room while Greyfell looked out the balcony doors.

"The only screams you heard, Rahan, came from us just before we took our last breath and expired … FROM YOU SCARING US TO DEATH!" The glare she sent her Captain's way was quite withering.

Again Rahan frowned.

"No, the screams we heard were not from the five of you. I know what elleths sound like when they scream and that is definitely _not_ what we heard."

The glares the twins, Aragorn and Legolas were sending his way were quite withering but Rahan dutifully ignored them as well.

Anayah realized she was still standing on the couch and after Legolas extended a hand to her, she climbed down.

"Rahan, has anything strange been happening out in the common room?"

"Not that I have noticed." He frowned a moment. "Well, except for this man that keeps walking from one end of the house to the other. I fully intend to ask Lord Elrond about this person when I see him later."

The five young ones looked at each other knowingly.

"There is something else."

Everyone looked at Greyfell who was still standing by the balcony doors.

"It is not raining on this side of the house."

There were a few moments of silence before everyone quickly moved to the balcony doors and after looking outside immediately turned and left the family room, walked quickly through the common room to the other side of the house where they each peered through the glass. Truly, the rain was pouring down while overhead the moon was shining - out of a clear sky - lighting the landscape below.

"Ok. I think the creep factor just went up a notch." Anayah said quietly. "The moon shines down, the rain falls from a cloudless sky, the wind blows while at the same moment on the other side of the building, there is no rain, no wind and no moonlight. And …"

When she didn't finish her sentence and stared over their shoulders, they all turned to see what it was she was looking at. Not one of them spoke as they saw a human man walking through the middle of the room. As he began to climb the stairs to the family's living quarters, Anayah finally came out of her surprised trance and after shoving her way through the crowd of elves and Estel, began to follow the man.

"Anayah, stop." Hissed Aragorn.

"Estel?" Rahan queried.

"That isn't a man, Rahan. It's a ghost."

The heads of all four Guards and Greyfell turned in unison toward a disappearing Anayah. There was only a momentary pause then the entire group ran toward the stairs and began to climb. They were all shocked, for when they reached the floor where the bedrooms were, there was nobody there, not the alleged ghost and not Anayah. The two had disappeared.

TBC


	2. Ethan

* * *

_Hope is the expectation that something outside of ourselves,  
something or someone external, is going to come to our rescue  
and we will live happily ever after.  
Dr. Robert Anthony_

* * *

Chapter 2 

Ethan

The elves and Aragorn conducted a thorough search of the entire floor, including the bedrooms and closets, but nobody found a trace of Anayah - nor did any of them again see the apparition of the human man. After the Thurin Tirith trackers finally admitted to their Captain that they could find no trail at all, Rahan made the decision to summon Lord Elrond with Elladan and Elrohir volunteering for the task. It was only a short time later when an out-of-breath Lord Elrond followed closely by his sons, Gandalf, King Thranduil and Glorfindel ran up the stairs. Everyone tried talking at once until Elrond raised a hand, finally signaling for quiet.

"Perhaps it would be better if one person at a time talked, for otherwise I will not be able to understand what is going on here. Elladan?"

The elder twin shifted his feet nervously, occasionally glancing around him at the shadows of the darkened hallway.

"We were in the family sitting room, telling ghost stories and having a good time, when strange things started happening. All the candles in the room went out and the fire in the fireplace died down to mere embers - all within a few moments, then there was a swirling wind in the room, the door got stuck - it's not raining outside - at least not on our side of the house - and the moon is behind the clouds. Then Anayah's Guards and Greyfell come into the room saying they heard screams although the only screams were from us after they scared us half to death."

When the eldest twin saw his father looking at him intensely, he stopped speaking, realizing that he sounded like an elfling trying to tell an adult about something scary that happened. He blushed and looked down at his hands and Elrohir put an arm around his brother's shoulders in support.

Seeing that all his children and even Legolas were quite unnerved from something, Elrond sighed and kissed the eldest twin on the brow.

"Sometimes fright has no respect for the wisdom and experience of years, so just take a deep breath, Elladan, and continue for I must know everything that has occurred."

"Well, like I said, we were all taking turns telling ghost stories and I told the one about the human man that disappeared when Elrohir and I were elflings - you know, the man that was always getting lost and who claimed he went to a big house with many doors."

Elrond frowned and nodded.

"Yes, my son, I remember the incident as well as the stories that were told after the man disappeared."

Elladan continued.

"It was after I finished the story that all the strange things began to happen. When Greyfell pointed out that the weather was not the same on both sides of the house, we all came out here to see for ourselves and that was when we all saw this strange human man walk by us. Before we could stop her, Anayah pushed her way through us and followed him up the stairs but when we got up here, both Anayah and the man were gone. That is all Ada - I swear."

Elrond sighed deeply before turning to Glorfindel.

"Glorfindel, I would appreciate it if you would gather some warriors and conduct a thorough search of the grounds - and make sure you tell them to report anything out of the ordinary - I don't care how insignificant the thing might be considered."

Glorfindel nodded then turned and left.

Elrond then looked at Rahan.

"Captain?"

"Súrion and Saeros cannot find any signs that Anayah or anybody else was ever up here, Lord Elrond. I am sorry."

Elrond turned to Gandalf.

"Gandalf, do you sense anything out of the ordinary here?"

The grey wizard closed his eyes and held up his staff and when he did the stone on the end began to glow. After spending a few moments standing silently, the glow in the stone disappeared and Gandalf opened his eyes.

"I cannot sense her, Elrond, nor do I detect a magical signature of any sort which is strange indeed for I can hear rain striking the roof on this side of the house but not on the other. Indeed, I do believe there is something strange going on here, although I will have to wait for a bit before I can speak with certainty or be able to give you any kind of a definite answer. While it is obvious that we are dealing with something we have never before encountered, I do not think - I cannot let myself think - that all has been lost."

Gandalf looked at those around him.

"I want each of you to keep track of every odd occurrence when it happens and if it does happen again, keep track of what else may be happening at the same time - lighting, odd weather occurrences, time, sounds - everything."

Whatever else the wizard was going to say was interrupted by the sound of running feet coming right towards where they were all standing. Everyone looked around them but could see no visible signs of anyone approaching, then when the invisible runner was upon them, they felt an icy breeze envelop their bodies and set their nerves on edge before the same footsteps continued on their way down the stairs. Shortly afterwards, the footsteps came running back in their direction and once more passed through them and once more continued on down the hall until the sound died away and the hallway was once more silent.

Suddenly, there was a scream of fright and pain, and just for a moment, the air in front of the group shimmered before everything became silent once more. Nobody moved, for they were all frozen in place by the strangeness of what had just happened. Then Súrion and Saeros moved away from the group and made their way down the hall at a half-crouch, examining the floor, walls and ceiling as they went. Súrion stopped and touched the floor with his fingertips and after a close examination of what he had touched, turned to the others with a worried look on his face.

"It's blood, and it's elvish."

Again there was a stunned silence.

"Since this incident seemingly started with a story in the family sitting room, I suggest that we retire there and try to determine just how we are going to proceed with this matter."

As everyone turned to go down the stairs, Elrond put a hand on King Thranduil's shoulder.

"You have been awfully quiet about all this, my friend. Your thoughts?"

Thranduil paused a moment before speaking, looking up the hallway then back at Lord Elrond. He turned to Legolas and told him to follow the others and that he would be along shortly then turned back to speak his thoughts to his friend.

"I am worried for her, Elrond. I don't have even a small portion of your skill in matters such as these, yet I can sense that she is terrified. I do not know, nor can I even guess at what is going on wherever she is, but I do know she is in terrible danger. This is one time when her insatiable curiosity may just get her killed."

Elrond smiled sadly.

"I also feel this just as I believe it is the case with Gandalf as well, for perhaps he did not give full voice to his thoughts because he did not want to frighten or worry anyone more than they already are." He turned the King towards the head of the stairs. "Let us go join the others and hopefully come up with a plan for dealing with all this - planning something is always better than just standing around worrying about things and doing nothing at all."

When they walked into the family sitting room, all conversation ceased. Elrond tended the fire, all the while trying to give order to his thoughts and calm himself, for on the outside he may have been the calm leader of his family and people, but inside he was just a worried father who didn't really have a clue on how to proceed. Finally he sat himself on the couch beside the twins and after Aragorn had served him a glass of wine and had once more seated himself, Elrond finally spoke.

"Never in all the millennias of my life have I ever heard, seen or experienced something like this so I have nothing to base what knowledge I do have, on. We are all familiar with different forms of magic and know that particular art is no more than an intimate knowledge of how our world operates and what we have to do to manipulate it. There are just so many things that I do not know and in this case wish I did." He looked down at his hands as his eyes misted up then Elladan put a comforting hand on his father's shoulder and Elrond sighed.

"It would be very arrogant of any race of beings or individual of those races to assume that when Ilúvatar created this world, that it was the only world he created or that the life on Middle Earth is the only life that exists. We don't know every note that the great choir of Ainur sang before their Lord, for it is not the time for us to do so, if ever it will be. It is an inconceivable thought for us that in each lake and stream in this life, and in each ripple and eddy of those lakes and streams, lies more ripples and eddies and so forth. Infinity, as opposed to immortality, is an extremely large concept and not one that many beings are comfortable talking about."

Elrond sipped his wine.

"It has always been said, and until now said only lightly, that of all the days of any year, that on this particular night, the 'veil' - the breath between each of the notes of the great Creation song, is the thinnest it will ever be. Perhaps when this was first said it was meant to be a warning - and not a joke - and was never to be taken lightly as we seem to have made it a habit to do. We were never meant to live our lives in fear of disturbing our Lord's song but I think we were meant to respect it a bit more than we do."

He looked up at the others.

"I can only speculate at this point as to what has happened although I have no idea what to do about it." His breath hitched and he had to take a deep breath to calm himself. "It is my belief that many years ago a human man that was working here at Imladris probably by accident, found a doorway leading out of our reality - our world.

I am guessing, and from what I remember of the human's explanation at the time, that what he found and what Anayah has obviously found, was something akin to a corridor, a hallway, if you will, that exists between each note of Ilúvatar's song. I also believe that each of the doorways he told us about leads to other places - perhaps places like this house or this world. This is only speculation, although unless we could talk to either the man or Anayah about it, would only remain speculation."

"Ada, what can we do? How can we get Anayah back?"

Elrond looked at his youngest son and from the look on his face, it was obvious the young man was expecting his father to produce a miracle. It saddened the elf lord that this might just be one time that he would have to disappoint him.

"I don't know, Estel. I don't know if there is anything we can do." When he saw the hopeful expression disappear from Estel's face, he hurriedly continued. "But do not lose hope my son, for we have some of the most brilliant minds and courageous hearts of this age right here in this room, and that has to count for something. We will figure this out - do not despair."

8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by the sounds of a mighty fight in the common room, loud yells, bangings and crashing followed by an explosion and screams from two different voices. When the group rushed to the door and stepped through it, they froze. The common room lay undisturbed with no signs of either a battle or an explosion. Greyfell frowned.

"Do the rest of you smell that?"

Everyone took a deep breath and more than one elf started sneezing and coughing as a pungent odor was taken into their lungs, tickling their noses and throats as it did so.

"I recognize that smell." The Mirkwood King turned to Gandalf. "I smelled that once before many years ago after Anayah had used a fireball during her duel with the Captain of the Shadow Wraiths. What do you think, Gandalf?"

The wizard nodded his head, a look of concern on his face.

"I agree with you, Thranduil. It is the lingering odor of a fireball."

Elrohir's head turned to the upper landing, for he had heard a noise. Seeing that his son's attention was focused upstairs, Elrond stepped to his side.

"What is it Elrohir?"

"I thought I heard something upstairs, something faint."

The youngest twin began to walk slowly toward the stairs, and not wanting a recurrence of another child disappearing, the rest of the family followed closely. Elrohir was the first elf to reach the top of the stairs and proceed down the darkened hallway running his fingertips along the wall as he walked.

"Sweet Elbereth." He said in a voice that was almost a whisper.

Four deep gouges ran along the hallway and over the closed doors of the bedrooms. Everyone looked closely at the marks and tried to determine what had made them. Finally, Elladan turned to the others.

"These look like they were made with knives." He put his fingers on the marks and was alarmed to find that the marks fit the spacing of his fingers perfectly, looking as if someone or something had drug their hand along the wall. He looked at the others. "Claw marks?"

As the others were looking at the mysterious marks, Semoro, Rahan's brother, sat on his heels and looked at something on the floor. Like Súrion before him, he touched it with his fingers.

"Semoro?"

"It's blood, Rahan, elvish blood. Anayah is wounded and bleeding heavily."

Rahan looked at Elrond and Gandalf with a spark of fire in his eyes.

"How do we get in there?" He asked the two fiercely.

"I don't know." Elrond admitted, feeling helpless.

Greyfell had gone into Anayah's room and when he returned, the others could see that he had Anayah's sword with him and was buckling it onto his belt beside his own. Elrond was just about to query the elf when Gandalf held up his hand, signaling for silence. When they had all quit talking and moving about, they heard what Gandalf had heard some moments before - the sound of someone crying softly to themself. Elrond started to walk towards the sound but Gandalf put a restraining hand on his arm.

"Let me go, Elrond, for if it is anything strange and dangerous, an Istar Wizard would stand a better chance of survival." With a wink at the elf, the Wizard turned and walked slowly and quietly down the hall.

Everyone was poised to rush to Gandalf's aid at the first sign or sound of trouble and it wasn't but a few moments later that Gandalf reappeared out of the shadows - and he was not alone. Elrond's hand flew to his mouth and he involuntarily took two steps backward and may even have fallen if not for the steadying hands of the Mirkwood King and Legolas.

"Ethan."

At the sound of his name being spoken the human looked up from where he was walking beside the grey wizard, leaning heavily against him. The man was horribly thin and had an air of perpetual terror about him, readable in both his eyes as well as his body language. When he saw who it was in front of him, he drew himself free from Gandalf's support and rushed forward as best he could, sinking to his knees in front of Elrond and burying his face in the Lord's robes as he began to sob.

Elrond sank to his knees in front of the human and drew his head to his shoulder where he rocked the man and tried to comfort him. Though the human seemed almost the way he had been on the day of his disappearance many centuries before, Elrond did notice that his hair was now snow white. Motioning to the twins, Elrond helped the man rise.

"Let us help you downstairs, Ethan, where a glass of wine awaits you."

The human tentatively smiled at the Lord as he gratefully accepted the help to get to his feet.

"Welcome home, my friend. Oh how we have missed you."

TBC


	3. Through The Looking Glass

* * *

_

"It was surely October on this very night of last year  
That I journeyed - I journeyed down here,  
That I brought a dread burden down here:  
On this night of all nights in the year,  
Ah, what demon has tempted me here?"  
Edgar Allan Poe

_

* * *

Chapter 3

Through The Looking Glass

Ethan was truly a man whose nerves had been stretched to their full limit and there was not a being in that room that wasn't fully aware that it would only take a simple nudge to unhinge the man altogether - to push him completely over the edge and into insanity. Such a thought was made evident by his quick steps, furtive glances into the corners of the room and its shadows and by the close proximity he always kept to the other elves, never more than a step or two away from anyone at any time.

On the way to the sitting room, the group happened to pass a mirror and when the human saw a reflection of himself in it, he paused for a moment, thinking that he gazed upon a stranger. Raising his hand, he slowly ran it through his snow white hair then touched the other signs of age on his face, the fine lines and wrinkles that only hinted at how old he really was. Though he looked almost the same as he had on the day he had disappeared two millennia before, there were signs of age upon him that he would carry with him for the rest of his days - however many of them that he had left.

When they reached the family's sitting room, Elrond tried to hand him a glass of wine, but the man's hands were shaking so badly that he was almost unable to hold onto the glass. The elf lord knelt in front of him and folded his trembling hands around the glass then held them there. Ethan was then able to sip the wine, closing his eyes and savoring the delicate taste of Imladris' finest, the first wine he had tasted in more years than he cared to think about.

It was some time before he had calmed himself enough to talk to the others but when he did, they were amazed at the story he told.

"Time means nothing there - nothing at all." He began. "I know not the purpose of this place nor the reason why I was drawn back there again and again and ..."

Ethan's voice broke off as he almost lost control of his nerves but the calming presence of Lord Elrond provided the stability he needed to pull himself together once more. He reached up with a trembling hand and patted the hands of the elf lord then sighed deeply before he continued.

"Once you have traveled there, it - the house - remembers you and it keeps calling you back - it never sets you free."

His eyes traveled to the balcony and for a time, looked at the serene and silent landscape on the other side of the glass. Finally, after he seemed to have replenished some of his emotional energy he spoke again, his voice scarcely more than a whisper.

"I remember walking down a dark hallway, passing many dimly lit doorways as I walked and when I looked at my hands, I could barely see them and that fact alone, was enough to set my nerves on edge." He looked up at the others. "There were no candles or glows in that hallway and no windows yet the darkness was not complete - light was coming from somewhere - I just could not find the source."

He paused briefly to take another sip of wine and when he did the others shifted in their seats as they too began to feel the man's anxiety.

"As I passed the doorways, I heard voices. Some were calling out to me as I passed them, some were sobbing and babbling incoherently and others were warning me about _them_. At the time, I didn't know who these people were talking about although that was a condition that wasn't going to last for much longer."

He turned toward Elrond then glanced nervously at the others in the room who were listening to what he was saying with rapt attention.

"None of the doors with people behind them would open - I tried each one as I came to it then had to endure the voices begging me not to leave them as I turned and walked away." He looked down at his wine glass and a solitary tear ran down his cheek. "It was one of the hardest things I have ever done and one of the most severe tasks that domain ever required of me - walking away with the knowledge that I could do nothing. My heart could not suffer having to leave those souls to their torment - it is truly something I will not soon forget. Then I found it, a room that was fully lit, a haven from the terrors of wherever it was that I had been, and it was in this room that I found the book."

Elrond looked at Ethan with a new interest.

"Tell me of this book, Ethan. What did it say?"

Ethan took another sip of his wine.

"This book was written in a fashion and in a language that I at first did not understand for the letters on the page were not Tengwar nor were the words in the Common tongue, nor were they written with quill and ink. However," He looked up at Elrond, "the longer I stared at the book, the clearer its intent became, the very meaning of the words on its pages became more clear until I could read them just as I would a book from your library, Lord Elrond. The book told of beings, horrors with twisted and perverted minds and natures who, in their lifetimes, took lives without thought and for revenge, out of hate, and just because they could. That the writings in the book spoke of creatures long dead as if they still lived, chilled my spirit, and yet, I found out that this fact was so.

That book was placed in that room as a warning that we must never ignore the dark words of legend and myth nor must we mire ourselves in those same words without balancing our thoughts with light and wholesomeness. The book urged balance while warning that total darkness could kill us just as what lived in the darkness of that place could steal a being's mind and spirit."

"Who were these beings, Ethan?"

"I do not know, Master Wizard, for it seems that the book and the knowledge it contains are confined to that place of darkness - that dank prison. I saw things while I was there, things that my mind can see clearly but I cannot give voice to, creatures and beings that would snatch at you from the shadows and try to pull you to them. I have run from these beings and dark creatures ever since I first became trapped in that place and over the long years since I first set foot there, I have come to know every hiding place by touch, every possible escape route." He paused and took a deep breath. "The only escape route I couldn't find was the one that led back home."

Ethan raised tear filled eyes to Lord Elrond.

"Is this really home, my Lord, or is this hell, a place to torment my mind with reflections of the world I once knew - or is it just another part of that accursed place that knows only torment and pain?"

Elrond looked at Gandalf who only shrugged his shoulders and looked puzzled.

"I don't understand, Ethan. What do you mean by hell?"

The human first looked puzzled, then a look of understanding passed over his face which quickly disappeared to again be replaced by puzzlement. He was frowning as he looked up at Elrond.

"I know not, my Lord. For a moment I almost remembered something from the book - but then that moment was gone and all that remains is a meaningless word."

Elrond put a hand on the man's shoulder.

"Do not trouble yourself about it, Ethan, for the harder you try to remember the things of that place, the more such memories will try to elude you. I am quite sure that if we were meant to know what this word means, then in due time, all will become clear. Now what can you tell us of your meeting with Anayah?"

Ethan looked up at the Noldor Lord.

"Do you mean the young lady that saved me?"

Elrond smiled.

"Yes. Her."

"Well, actually Lord Elrond, we kind of just ran into each other."

There was almost a smile on the man's face when he spoke, but it soon disappeared, once more leaving his expression dark and brooding.

"I had found a new corridor and I was walking its length, trying the door handles as I walked when one of the dark beings, a large man, came around the corner and started walking towards me. I had seen this particular being many times before and remember him well, for he is an extremely large male, of an unknown race, and he never speaks, even when he fights, which is with a short sword. It has been my experience on more than one occasion that it was much healthier for me if I ran in the opposite direction when I saw him. Anyway, when I saw him coming toward me, I turned around and ran, then the air in front of me began to shimmer and someone walked through the opening. I was running too fast to stop - terror often does that to a person - and so I ran right into her and knocked her down."

Ethan paused and looked out the windows with the small smile once more on his face.

"At first I thought that I had died and that one of the Eldars' Valar had come to take me to the next life, especially when I saw her 'glow.' Either way, I have never been so glad to see someone in my entire life although when I saw that she was and elf," he glanced at the others, "and a female, my heart saddened, for I did not want one of the race of Eldar, nor a delicate female, to be trapped in such a horrible place nor have such experiences as I had."

There was more than one snicker in the room which caused the human to look at the others, puzzled at their reaction. When Elladan saw the man looking at him strangely, he felt compelled to explain.

"I'm sorry Ethan, for it is not my intention to make light of your reaction to our sister. However, I must tell you that the word delicate is not a word that we have many occasions to apply to Anayah."

The human nodded.

"So I was quick to find out, Lord Elladan."

Ethan had found it quite difficult to sit in one place, for he had spent too much time in a place where to stay still for too long could mean a quick and painful death. When he stood then began to pace up and down in front of the fireplace, nobody said a thing about it for they well understood that it would be some time, if ever, before he would be comfortable sitting in one place again.

"It was the Lady who grabbed me by the collar of my tunic and hauled me to my feet. Her survival instincts are amazing although having a large man with a sword in his hand walking towards you with the clear intention of taking your life probably was pretty easy for her to read as a danger sign. Anyway, we started running and I was showing her different routes to take as we traveled. We were both listening for the man's footsteps and we could easily hear them although I thought it quite odd that while we were running and he was walking with heavy footsteps, that he always seemed able to keep up with us.

I was almost glad to have her with me for I knew that she could probably see better in the dark than I could - that is, I did think so until she ran into a wall."

There was a buzz in the room as everyone wondered at this occurrence.

"I helped her to her feet and then when I started to run down the corridor again, I sensed she had not followed so I turned back, only to find her looking at the wall, feeling it and looking at it from different angles - and that is when I ran back and grabbed her then turned her in the direction the two of us should be running in."

Ethan paused and frowned.

"It was the oddest thing, Lord Elrond. We had only been running for a few more minutes when she suddenly stepped into me but when I almost fell, she grabbed my arm and kept me upright. Without speaking she pointed and when I looked, saw that there was not a hand's width between her and the wall. When I whispered to her and asked what that meant, all she said was that the wall was saying hello." He looked at Elrond. "What do you suppose she meant by that?"

Elrond frowned.

"I cannot even guess, Ethan, especially without talking to her, but my first assumption would be that the wall physically moved to try and block her path. With everything that has happened this night, I would not rule out anything as a possibility."

Elrond got up to fill his wine glass.

"This is all so fantastic that I do not know what to think about it."

"I hate to add to your puzzlement, Elrond, but have you any guess as to what time it is?"

Elrond looked at Gandalf.

"I imagine it is somewhere near dawn, Gandalf."

The grey wizard just chuckled as he pointed out the balcony doors toward the sky and when everyone looked, they saw that the moon was not even halfway through its nightly journey. They were all stunned by this new mystery.

"At least the moon is back." Aragorn said sarcastically.

Elrond looked at Gandalf.

"Would you care to shed some light on this, Gandalf? And I intended no play on words with that statement." He raised an eyebrow when it looked like Aragorn was about to speak.

This time it was Gandalf's turn to pace.

"I cannot even begin to think about definite answers although I can make something of a guess."

He could see that he had everyone's full attention.

"It is my belief that Lord Elrond's home, if not all of Imladris is either stuck in, or is slowly passing through, a very thin spot between this world and the next. While it is here or while it is making this journey, it is my belief that time will mean very little and many things will happen that defy all rational thought or explanation. There is no telling what we will encounter but we should all prepare ourselves for the possibility that we will encounter things that will seen strange and unreal to us."

"When do you think things will return to normal, Gandalf?"

"I cannot answer that question, Elladan, although I think it is safe to say that either the journey of this place will complete itself or we will all disappear out of time and place just like Ethan did all those millennia ago."

"Is there nothing you can do, Gandalf? Is there no magic that will fix all of this?"

Gandalf shook his head.

"I am sorry Estel, but I am afraid that time and place is something that even the Valar cannot change. We must all just wait this phenomenon out."

Gandalf turned to Ethan.

"Ethan, why don't you continue with your tale?"

The human cleared his throat then took a sip of his wine before proceeding.

"We had been running from the large man for some time when Anayah finally came to a stop and held up her hand, signaling for silence. The atmosphere of that place was dark and almost suffocating in nature during the best of times, and it is usually silent as well, something that was noticeable at that particular moment - there was silence, no footsteps or the sound of heavy breathing - there was absolutely no sound. We thought we had eluded our pursuer and had leaned against a nearby wall to rest when we heard a whimper come from one of the nearby doorways. Anayah tried the handle of the door but when it wouldn't open, knelt down to where she could easily see the light coming out from underneath the door.

The being on the other side of the door spoke to her and I heard her tell the poor thing to calm itself and speak slowly because she couldn't understand what it was trying to say. The creature did manage to calm itself a bit and it was then that a single word was spoken that chilled our hearts. The poor thing said, 'Run!'

We looked up to see the big man step out of one of the side corridors not more than 20 feet from us - in front of us now - for somehow it had taken a route that cut off our escape. Anayah jumped to her feet and grabbed me by an arm and pulled me to mine then we both took off running down the corridor back the way we had come. I began to fall behind but did not have the breath to call out to her, however, when I fell, she must have sensed that I did so, for she turned back. She was too far away from me and the big man reached me first and and when he raised his sword to strike me down I curled myself into a ball and instinctively covered my head for I did not want to see the moment of my death coming at me.

All I saw was this blur of motion as she flew over my head and hit the big man in the middle of his chest with both feet. I thought I was going to cry for I know the Lady is not weak, but all she managed to do was drive the man backwards for a few feet - he did not fall! Then - and I can hardly explain how she did this - but she leapt completely off the ground and spun her body in a full circle until one of her feet came in contact with his head."

Ethan looked at the others and they saw that he had tears falling down his cheeks.

"Twice more she kicked him in this fashion and both times only managed to drive him backwards - but still he did not fall!" Ethan's voice had faded until it was no more than a whisper. "I felt so helpless and useless for I know that the Eldar are naturally stronger than humans but whoever ... whatever ... this being, this creature was, he managed to keep his feet where another might have been killed or seriously injured - and I could do nothing to help her."

Elrond laid a comforting hand on the man's shoulder.

"But the two of you survived the attack, did you not?"

Ethan raised his eyes to Elrond and smiled although the smile came nowhere near his eyes.

"We both lived, my Lord, but the Lady - Anayah - was injured in the attack. When she failed to take the man down, she started backing up and when she was beside me once more, grabbed my arm then shoved me behind her as we continued to slowly make our way up the corridor. He came at us and started swinging his sword with great power and the Lady kept ducking, causing the man to miss her, his sword hitting the wall then tearing chunks out of it as he pulled it free. I don't know if she was getting tired or if he was just getting lucky, but he caught her in a slice across her chest, then some moments later, he stabbed her in the side. I can almost hear the sound ringing in my ears as first she gasped then screamed and fell into me and as I also screamed in reaction to what was happening."

Súrion nodded his head.

"That was when I found the blood."

Ethan looked at the big Silvan elf for a moment before continuing.

"We had finally found our way into one of the large rooms. There are things in this room, devices of torture and other oddities that I would have liked to look at, for the times I had been there before, I was being pursued and so could not stop and indulge my curiosity, however morbid you may consider it. I know she was weakening and was tired because she quit running and started picking things up and throwing them at him - anything she could get her hands on, large and small. And it was the strangest thing," he looked closely at Elrond, "but her eyes had turned completely black."

"The blood rage."

Ethan turned his head in Rahan's direction.

"I'm sorry, Master Elf, but I don't understand."

Rahan got up from his seat across the room and walked until he could sit in a chair next to the human.

"Until now, I thought this was a trait particular to our Thurin Tirith Warrior Order, Ethan, although apparently I was mistaken, especially in Anayah's case. I will try and explain it to you. Under certain extreme circumstances, and most of the time in dire battlefield situations, a warrior can be taken by this rage, called a blood rage, also known as berserker's rage by some humans.

During this time, the elf is capable of great feats of strength and daring, and oftentimes perform these feats without the use of conventional weapons. It's an all-out attack and is usually used as a last resort. Humans might attribute this rage to a great rush of adrenaline, but in any case, when this happens, the colored part of our eyes turns completely black. It seems that our Anayah lost her temper - not always a good thing - for the enemy or for her."

Ethan nodded his head in understanding.

"She was managing to drive him back although he didn't drop his sword but kept a firm grasp on it. Then, it seemed as if the man got his second wind and started dodging what she was throwing at him and once more began walking toward us. It was at that time that I saw her hold out her hand and look at it while whispering something I could not understand. A large red fireball formed in her palm and she threw it at him, and after it hit him in the chest, he quickly caught fire and was soon engulfed in flames. That was as close to panic as I had ever seen him, and still he made no sound as he moved around, burning and patting at his body to try and put out the flames. It was at that moment that Anayah grabbed me by the arm and we fled."

"That's when we smelled that horrid odor in the common room." Thranduil nodded his head. "Apparently not all facets of that place are confined there but bleed over into our world, or are beginning to anyway."

The others nodded in agreement.

"There is something that you all have to understand - that place is a living nightmare, where there is no rest, reprieve or hope - only pursuit and terror." Ethan frowned. "No ... in this case I am mistaken, for there is the room with the book and it is only there, in full light, where I have been able to spend any length of uninterrupted time. I even saw one of the creatures pass the doorway without pausing, for it seemed as if the thing didn't even see me."

"How many different creatures have you seen, Ethan?"

"In truth, Master Wizard, I do not know how many different creatures are in that place although I can say with certainty that I have seen at least six different beings or creatures or whatever they are. My stomach turns at the thought of the Lady trapped there alone and without a weapon. Even though she is Eldar and I am not, she does not have the millennia of experience that I do in that place and where I know all the best hiding places and corners and shadows to rest in, she does not - and that thought pains me greatly."

"But how did you get out of there Ethan? There is evidently some way out as well as in, for you went there and back many times millennia ago and Anayah entered that place and you escaped it. How is this so? Do you have any ideas?"

"Perhaps the next part of my story will explain it, Lord Elrond." Ethan took a deep breath before proceeding. "We had left the burning wreck of a creature, and were traveling up the corridor side by side when Anayah suddenly stopped. I stopped as well and when I looked up the corridor to see what she was looking at, I felt all the blood leave my face and I thought I would pass out from my fear. Ahead of us, at the top of the corridor, we saw the silhouette of a man, casually leaning up against the wall and even though I could not see his face clearly, I could still see that he held several small knives in one of his hands.

Our nerves were pretty much gone by that time but when the Lady turned and spoke to me, I was startled by how calm she seemed to be. She told me that she had found a way out and that if the worst should happen that I was to look for a spot in the air around me that looked like it was shimmering. She said not to expect to see one of these shimmering spots in the same place twice but to always be alert for the presence of one. Anayah said that if I saw one of these things that I was to walk, run, jump or skip through it, saying that the choice was mine but that the important thing to remember was that I was to get myself through it."

Everyone in the room could see that the man was about to burst out crying.

"Anayah turned back to the man that was now walking toward her, dragging his knives along the wall and making a horrible screeching noise with them. She must have seen one of these doorways forming behind me - for I did not - but she turned me around and pushed me toward it then turned back to fight the man with the knives. Just before I stepped through the door, I heard her cry out."

Ethan finally broke down and sobbed while both Gandalf and Lord Elrond tried to soothe him. The man looked up at the two as if he was begging their forgiveness.

"She sacrificed herself for me and now she is wounded and alone - with neither a weapon nor prospect of help."

Everyone in the room jumped when they suddenly heard what sounded like another great battle going on out in the common room with the sound of loud banging and crashing and cursing which could only have come from Anayah together with the sound of maniacal laughter which could have only come from whoever she was fighting with. Almost as one, they rose to their feet and rushed out the door.

When they reached the common room they all came to a stop for the only evidence that anything out of the ordinary had happened was when they saw Glorfindel picking himself up off the floor. When he saw everyone standing and staring at him, he carefully adjusted his tunic, smoothed down his ruffled hair then walked towards where everyone was standing as if nothing strange had just occurred.

"Something or someone just barreled into me and knocked me down - I mean to tell you that my feet flew up into the air. I haven't been so embarrassed in millennia - and there wasn't even anyone around to witness my humiliation."

He came to a halt and ceased talking then ever so slowly walked up to Ethan and for a moment just stood looking at the man until, without warning, he threw his arms around the man's neck and hugged him. When most of those standing in the common room looked at Elrond, he just smiled.

"Glorfindel and Ethan became quite close millennia ago when he worked here. On rest days, the two of them would spend hours just sitting in the gardens telling stories and laughing. Glorfindel was quite saddened when Ethan disappeared the last time."

The others nodded in understanding. Suddenly Legolas pointed to a spot to one side of the group.

"Look! The air is shimmering - I think it's one of Ethan's doorways."

The others turned and did, in fact, see one of the doorways forming. However, before anyone could react, Greyfell, being the closest to it, ran towards the place and jumped through it, just seconds before it disappeared. Rahan gave a cry of rage and slammed one of his fists into a nearby wall after which all three of his Guards gathered around him in emotional support while the others, stunned by his outburst, remained silent. After some moments spent calming himself, he finally turned to the others.

"I apologize for both my outburst as well as the fact I was not able to react quicker to the doorway's appearance." He sighed deeply. "We must not lose hope especially now that Anayah is no longer alone. All of us must keep the faith that the Captain will be able to find her and bring her home."

TBC


	4. Wonderland

* * *

_

But evil things, in robes of sorrow,  
Assailed the monarch's high estate;  
(Ah, let us mourn, for never morrow  
Shall dawn upon him desolate!)  
And round about his home the glory  
That blushed and bloomed,  
Is but a dim-remembered story  
Of the old time entombed.  
Edgar Allan Poe  


_

* * *

Chapter 4 

Wonderland

If the situation had not been so dire, he probably would have laughed at himself. In truth, he had given no thought whatsoever to his arrival at the destination … only his departure … so-to-speak. When he finally emerged into the darkened hallway on the other side of Ethan's doorway, he spent the first few seconds and the first five feet, trying not to fall on his face like an elfling who had not been watching where he was walking.

He turned around to look at the doorway but saw that in the few seconds since his arrival, it had disappeared, leaving only a long darkened hallway in back of him and the same in front. He settled the two swords attached around his waist and adjusted his tunic, patting different pockets to make sure that the extra supplies he had hastily shoved into them were still there.

Sitting on his heels, Greyfell began to assess his situation, the immediate area around him and also the area in front of him. His elvish senses told him that there was no being or creature in his immediate vicinity at the moment and in that regard he was both glad and disappointed. He was glad, for that meant that he would not have to meet and engage a bizarre creature or being in combat, who either had a fascination with cutlery or with death – and not necessarily in that order. He was also disappointed for that also meant that he would have to enter and travel through unknown territory containing unknown enemies to find Anayah.

There was nothing to indicate the size of the "house" or the layout so the problem would be to try and find Anayah with absolutely no clues to go on – he laughed quietly at the absurdity. Then an idea came to him. He had always known that he and Anayah shared a special bond, something he had first become aware of in Hoth when he had seen her use her magic to subdue an abusive jailer. He had immediately known not only what she was doing but also why she was doing it, even though he did not know how or why he knew such things. The two of them were connected somehow and he would try and tap into that connection now and hopefully use it to find her.

He closed his eyes and mentally reached out into the darkness, sending his own fëa down corridors, passed shadowy doorways and darkened rooms, searching for Anayah. He found her and his heart leapt in his chest when she raised her hand and laid it on her cheek when he mentally placed a kiss there, a gesture meant both as a hello and as encouragement. When she turned and started walking in his direction, he withdrew his mental touch then sat back to wait for her to come to him.

While he waited for Anayah to arrive, he looked at the doorways around him where he could dimly sense conscious thought, a fact that meant there was life behind the doors. As he listened, he heard bodies shift and floors creak as whoever was sitting just on the other side of the doorways moved restlessly. He frowned, for the fëas of the beings seemed altered, twisted and frightened, with their inner light diminished or totally absent. He shook his head sadly, for if he guessed correctly, the locked doors weren't keeping these pitiful beings imprisoned but were protecting them from a place and "things" that had destroyed their minds.

He started walking in the general direction he sensed Anayah would be coming from, noting as he did the gouges and chunks that had been torn out of the walls on both sides of the hallway. When he saw the bloody handprint he drew his sword, for there had obviously been a serious fight – and not all that long before. Whoever Anayah had engaged in battle could very well be somewhere nearby – right at that moment.

He smelled the air, trying to find a scent – anything that might provide information about this place he was in or the beings he might possibly encounter, both good and bad. He almost gagged and swiftly put his hand over his nose and mouth, trying to block out the putrid scent that came to him, the smell of death and decay. It was an all-out assault on his elvish sense of smell – and he immediately knew that there were more things hidden in the darkness than he would probably want to know about.

Slowly and quietly he made his way up the darkened hallway, listening to the sounds and faint rustlings around him. He maintained a constant state of alertness, always looking for signs of danger, but it was when he sensed something pass over his head, that he flattened himself up against the wall and turned his glow off to better hide from whatever was there. Once he thought he heard a low growl from one of the darkened corridors that branched off from the hallway he was walking down. He quickly moved past the area and even though he heard the soft padding of an animal walking on all four feet, after a time there was only silence.

On more than one occasion, he had to stop and take some deep, calming breaths and consciously slow his breathing and heart rate. Though he had spent most of the long millennias of his life facing danger and evil in many forms, there was something about where he was at that moment that made anything he had faced and feared seem insignificant in comparison. He shuddered when he considered that he was becoming unnerved after only a short time in this place while Ethan had spent over two millennia here.

The rustling noises continued and on more than one occasion, he had been tempted to brighten his glow so he could see what was lurking in the shadows although the sensible part of himself warned him not to, that what he would see should remain hidden.

He froze when he heard two set of footsteps coming in his direction, the first and lighter set of footsteps belonging to Anayah. Then it felt like an icy hand clutched at his heart and squeezed for the footsteps of the second person were loud, steady and even and could only mean that whoever the person was that was following Anayah was very large. Though that fact disturbed him, it didn't disturb him as much as the fact that Anayah's footsteps were unhurried and could only mean that she didn't know the other being was behind her and gaining on her.

_What is wrong with you, Baby Girl?_ He thought to himself. _Don't you hear him walking behind you?_

When he judged that Anayah was close enough, he reached around the corner of the corridor, quickly grabbed her and drew her to him. He was not prepared for the fist that came around the corner with her. For a time, Greyfell thought he was looking at stars and listening to a swarm of bees, for there were sparkling lights in front of him and a buzzing in his ears that drowned out all other sounds. To his credit, however, he did not let go of Anayah, but drew her struggling body to him, confining her arms and holding her tightly until both his vision and hearing recovered enough for him to start whispering quietly to her.

"Anayah. Anayah, calm down for it is only me. Sh. Calm down. That's it."

He continued to sit and stroke her hair and rock her until her frantic movements ceased and she sat quietly in his arms, trembling. Gently he brushed the hair out of her eyes so he could see her face and was alarmed to note that tears were running down her cheeks which he wiped away with the sleeve of his tunic. Whoever had been following her had either turned back or had gone in another direction for when he listened, he could detect neither the footsteps nor the man's fëa, meaning that for the moment, they were alone.

Greyfell was certain of two facts, the first being that Anayah was in shock and he would have to find someplace fairly soon where he could see to her injuries and let her regain her focus. The second fact was that he knew that they were both in grave danger if they stayed where they were for much longer. He kept trying to get Anayah's attention but she continued to just sit listlessly, as if she no longer possessed the will to go on.

Finally, he managed to get her to turn her eyes to him and was instantly saddened by the look of despair in them. He gave her another hug to try and reassure her.

"Anayah, I need to check your injuries."

When he attempted to move her bloody tunic aside to look at her wounds, she flinched and pulled away so he decided that for the moment he would just let her be. She didn't seem in imminent danger of bleeding to death so he would forego treating her injuries and would try to get her to speak to him. After some moments of just sitting quietly and rocking her soothingly, she began to speak.

"I have killed the skinny man twice, yet he still walks the hallways of this accursed place and while I do not claim to understand how this is so, I just know that it is."

She laid her hands over those of her friend as if she drew comfort from his touch.

"Greyfell, why would the grace of immortality be given to such a creature – being – whatever he is? Even with all the faults of our race, and all arrogance aside, the elves have the same grace. We have a purpose and we understand that purpose and we strive our whole lives to become, and be, the best elf that it is in our power to become. I just don't understand why this same grace would be given to a being whose only purpose seems to be to injure, maim and kill.

The skinny man is evil and I get this sense that he would and probably has killed without remorse or thought for the consequences and from what I have come to know of him, he has no conscience and kills for his own gratification only. There is no balance in this being, no light whatsoever ... only shadow and darkness, and that frightens me more than anything ever has."

She finally relaxed and leaned back, resting her body and head against her friend.

"At first it bothered me that Ethan should have been able to survive in this place for two millennia and I am almost overcome by the darkness of this place in a single day. In this we must applaud the resiliency of the race of man for, and I mean this in a good way, they do not have the ability to feel as deeply or completely as do the Firstborn and because of that, Ethan was somewhat emotionally shielded from all this evil.

And the big man ... I do not sense consciousness in him at all and while I do not understand the devilry that drives him, I do understand that his strength and purpose are singular – he is hollow and exists only to kill – no more."

Anayah looked up at an attentive Greyfell with tears in her eyes.

"I have brought down and killed Uruk Hai much larger than this being yet my attacks seemed to do nothing other than fuel his purpose. In this place of horrors it seems that my magic is useless for not even my fireball managed to stop him."

"But it did save your life, Anayah."

She sighed.

"But it did not accomplish what I wanted it to and only drained me of a portion of my life force, leaving me exhausted, physically and emotionally vulnerable while he lived and gained strength, Greyfell. Yes, the human and I lived, but so did the creature."

Anayah grew silent once more and Greyfell decided that she had perhaps regained enough strength to move on.

"Anayah, we have to move on for if we stay much longer, one of the creatures in this place will find us. Do you think you can stand and walk with me?"

With another sigh and a nod of her head, Anayah started to stand and with Greyfell's help finally made it to her feet. They started off down the hallway and as they walked, Greyfell talked quietly to Anayah.

"The name of the human that you saved is Ethan and he is the human that disappeared from Imladris all those millennia ago, the human from the story Elladan was telling when all this started. He has told us much about this place, Anayah, and was genuinely worried that you were here by yourself and without a weapon to defend yourself with. I brought Guruthos for you, so if there is a need, he is attached to my belt.

Gandalf seems to think that Lord Elrond's house is wedged into the world this place exists in and is only slowly making its way through it to where it should be. Time has stopped, which is a good indication that what Gandalf told us is so and while it should be almost dawn, the moon shining down on your house is not even halfway through its nightly journey.

I must tell you that bits and pieces of this world are beginning to bleed through into our own and the phenomena are increasing in intensity. First we only saw Ethan, and then more and more things became noticeable, like when you passed us – through us – for it felt like an icy chill when you did so. There was also damage – four great gouges along the walls and doorways in the upper hallway and blood on the floor as well. Just before I left, there were the sounds of battle coming from the Common Area then someone or something knocked Lord Glorfindel completely off his feet."

Anayah looked sharply at Greyfell.

"Was he injured?"

"Only his pride. He was quite surprised that he had been laid low by something or someone that he could not even see."

Anayah gave a small smile. Greyfell looked at her seriously.

"The situation has gone from guttering candles to physical interactions and while I cannot tell you if things will get worse or not, I do know that you need to be with your family for it is a true saying that there is strength in numbers. Having beings around you that you know and trust will help recharge your spirit and having the knowledge and expertise of a grey wizard can only stand in our favor, for who could understand a mystical world better than one of the Istari?"

Anayah gave a small sarcastic smile.

"I don't know if exchanging one world of evil beings for a chance to be around my brothers will be much of an improvement."

Greyfell looked at Anayah and smiled.

"You must be feeling better, for your wonderful and unique sense of humor seems to be with us once again."

"I do feel a bit better, my friend, and I want you to know that the efforts you made to find me have not gone unnoticed."

Anything more that they would have said was interrupted when they suddenly found themselves facing a wall.

"I didn't see this wall here a moment ago."

"It is this place, this house. It is guiding us somewhere."

"The house is guiding us? I do not understand."

As the two elves turned left into another darkened hallway, Anayah tried to explain.

"I can only make guesses and assumptions, Greyfell, but I believe that the house is doing what it can to help me and in this particular case, to guide the two of us somewhere. For too long, this place has harbored only evil and I believe it was overcome by that evil and long ago lost, or forgot its true purpose – whatever that may have been in the beginning. It seems to be a maze of some sort, an ever-changing puzzle for us to figure out and find a way out of. I imagine that over time, many beings have found their way here, but were unable to find their way out and it is probably them that we sense on the other side of the locked doors – or what is left of them.

The evil creatures that live in this place are trapped here by their own evil natures and have no other purpose or desire other than to continually hunt for beings that have become trapped here. They have lost all desire to find a way out and my heart tells me that keeping these atrocities here may be the kindest thing – for everyone else.

The house is doing what it can to help us and since it cannot speak in the same fashion that we do, as far as I know anyway, it speaks by putting walls in our path, like what just happened. That wall appearing in front of us like it did was a sign saying 'Go this way.'"

Greyfell nodded.

"Then why can't it show us the way out of here? If it is so sorry about us being here then why can't it created a door right now so that we can go home?"

Anayah stopped still a moment and looked at her friend before continuing on.

"I don't think that it can, Greyfell. It is my thought that this 'house' is a caretaker of sorts, not only for those who have emotionally or physically died here but for the evil beings who are here as well, and it is its job to keep the evil confined within its boundaries – whatever and wherever those are. I believe that it can create doorways for us to get home but the doorways cannot stay in one place for very long and cannot appear in the same place twice because if they did, there would be a great danger of some of the creatures escaping into whatever world the house comes in contact with. Also, the beings that get trapped here, us included, have to know that that shimmering space in the air is a doorway – obviously a lot of those who became trapped here, lost their minds before they figured out that the doorway back to wherever they came from was right in front of them."

Greyfell had noticed that Anayah was starting to lean on him more, almost as if she was tiring and even though it was dark, he could still see the luminescent drops of blood that were creating a trail – something he suspected the creatures would follow until they found them both. The need for finding some kind of Sanctuary was fast becoming a necessity.

Then as if the house had sensed his thoughts, Greyfell saw light from a room lighting the hallway not too far from where they were walking. He put his arm around Anayah's waist and hurriedly walked toward the light then once inside the room, he helped her sit on the floor and after only a cursory look around them, knelt beside her.

Anayah was sitting with her eyes closed and her hand over the wound in her side that seemed to be bleeding more than when they had first found each other. Reaching inside his pocket, he took out the packet of athelas as well as rolls of bandages in addition to needle and thread. After carefully cleaning the stab wound, the slash across her chest as well as the four slashes on her arm, he liberally packed each wound with athelas, sewed them closed then bandaged them.

At first, he had been concerned that Anayah had neither moved nor flinched when he had been tending to her injuries, and in truth, that concern had grown as more time had elapsed. Then he noticed that she was beginning to tremble and as the trembling increased, he put his arms around her and held her and she allowed him to do so. At first Greyfell couldn't tell what she was saying for her words were no more than a whisper but the longer he listened, he could make out what she was trying to say.

"I can't do this." She said over and over. "I can't do this. I just don't have enough strength to do it."

He cradled her head against his shoulder and tried to soothe her.

"What can't you do, Anayah?"

At first he thought she hadn't heard him but just when he was going to repeat himself, she answered him.

"I have ridden against the Úlaire and have fought more evil creatures than most humans three times my own age, and most elves millennia older than me. But I would rather sit down and have a cup of tea with the Witch King himself than stay in this place one more moment."

When she turned her eyes to him he suddenly realized just how young she was ... much too young to be facing what she was now.

"I want to go home, Greyfell."

"I wish I could grant you your request, Anayah, but we both know that I cannot. The best thing that I can promise you right now is that I will do everything I can to get us both out of here – I will not leave your side until we are gone from this pit of despair."

There was silence for a moment then Anayah raised her hand and placed it on the side of his face.

"Then I will hold on to that promise and let it be my strength until this place is but a bitter memory. Just remember that your oath is mine as well and I will let nothing more stop me from finding a way home for both of us." Then she frowned. "How did you get this bruise?"

She gently traced the blossoming bruise on the edge of his jaw. He smiled at her then took her hand and kissed it before he returned it to her.

"When we first met in this place, I had detected someone behind you and reached around the corner and grabbed you to try and hide you from whoever was following you. Apparently you were startled for the first thing that came around the corner of the corridor was your fist. I apologize for not letting you know that it was only me."

She frowned.

"As do I for harming you."

"So are you ready to assess our situation?"

"Yes, my friend, I am."

"Well, my Lady, then let us begin." Greyfell made himself more comfortable although he was careful to sit himself so he could have an unimpeded view of the door. "I brought Guruthos to you so you can now defend yourself with a bit more force. I have athelas, bandages, needle and thread, as well as water. Ethan told us what you had told him about the doorways so I will be looking for just such an event. Other than that, I will have to depend on you for knowledge of this place."

Anayah nodded.

"This is what I have discovered since I have been here. I think that this place, this house has a consciousness although it is limited to caring for the beings within its boundaries. I do not know what its boundaries are but I can tell you that I have marked certain hallways and have never been in the same one twice – as far as I know. The house can move its walls at will and did so, I believe, in order to get my attention although I also wonder if it directs the creatures in this place in other directions as well."

Greyfell reached up and gently touched a small bruise in the middle of her forehead.

"Ethan told us about your encounter with the wall."

"I don't think the house was purposely trying to hurt me but was trying to get my attention. On more than one occasion, it has guided me certain places."

"And what about the doorways?"

"I don't think they are ever in the same place twice, Greyfell, but the reason for that is not to confound us but to confuse and disorient the evil inhabitants of this place. It can't take the chance that they will be around when a doorway opens."

"Then how do you propose that we find a doorway?"

"I think that we are safe in this room because it is well lit and there is no feeling of darkness or evil in here. Perhaps it was created as a safe-room for beings that have become trapped here – I don't know."

Greyfell nodded.

"Yes, Ethan spoke of this room and said that he came here often to rest and even saw one of the creatures pass by the doorway without seeing him."

Anayah frowned.

"He said he has been here often?"

"Yes. Why is that significant?"

"I have never been down the same corridor twice that I know of. Now I know that Ethan was here for much longer but I am assuming that this place is like an ever changing maze with an infinite number of possible and probable hallways – continually changing, never the same. If Ethan was here more than once then perhaps we can assume that this room is at the exact center of this house – maze – puzzle – whatever it is."

A momentary look of excitement appeared on her face but quickly disappeared to be replaced by the previous frown.

"What?" Greyfell asked.

"My great idea has about as much value as a basket full of candles in this place."

"Why not?"

"Because we have no flint to light the candles with – no point of reference to navigate by ... no stars ... nothing."

Greyfell gave her shoulders a squeeze.

"Not to worry, Anayah. If all else fails, we will just start walking, handle business as required and hope that we eventually run into a door – although literally running into a door is probably not a good thing either." He gently rubbed the bruise on her forehead and winked at her.

"However, I do not believe that our job will need anything more than us being in the right place at the right time and remaining alive until that time arrives for us."

"What do you mean?"

"After listening to Gandalf try and explain what was happening, I am assuming that whatever time and place this house exists in will at some point in the near future, exist entirely within Imladris."

The look of dawning comprehension on Anayah's face made Greyfell smile.

"I see you are starting to follow my train of thought." He took a sip of his water before he continued. "When this place is fully within Imladris, then any door at any place will lead home. And that means that we don't have to search for the entrance to this place, nor do we even have to pay particular care to where we are. Sooner or later the doorway will appear. And if our friends and family in Imladris are paying attention, and I am sure they are, considering the circumstances, they will do what they can to point the way for us."

Anayah smiled and nodded her head in understanding.

"And so by your reasoning, we won't have to pay attention to what direction we are going. All we will have to pay attention to is us keeping out of the way of anything that can slice, dice or gnaw upon our bodies."

"Well, I probably wouldn't have put it that way, but yes. All we have to do is survive until we find a doorway or a doorway finds us."

He started to look around the room.

"There it is!"

As Anayah frowned in puzzlement, Greyfell quickly got to his feet and walked to the far side of the room where a small book sat on a table. Picking it up, he walked back to where Anayah was sitting and sat himself beside her.

"Ethan told us about a book that he found and I am assuming this book is the one he was talking about."

Greyfell opened the book and began to thumb through the pages with Anayah peering past his arm. They both frowned.

"What language is that? I do not recognize it."

She felt the page and gently rubbed what she assumed were words.

"This is not parchment and these words are not written with quill and ink. I don't like this book." She pushed the book away from them although Greyfell would not loose his hold on it.

"He also said that at first the book and the words on its pages confounded him but the longer he stared at it, the easier it was for him to read it. Apparently this book is an accounting of the evil creatures that inhabit this place."

The two of them continued to look at the book and soon found themselves beginning to understand the words on the page.

"Ethan told us that this book is an aid and also a warning not to ignore legend and myth nor to allow our lives to become unbalanced by allowing too much shadow to overcome us."

Anayah once more felt the page.

"Does the book list the name of the person who wrote this?" When Greyfell looked at her with a raised eyebrow, she just shrugged her shoulders. "I was just curious."

Greyfell looked through the book for the name of the person who had written it, but rather than being at the end where the beings in their own world would have put it, the name was inside the front cover. Greyfell read what was written; not being the least surprised that he could now do so.

"It says: 'Read this book and heed our warning, travelers. Be ever watchful – for our children live in every corner. We are sorry.'" He had to squint to read the small word at the end. "It is signed, Lament." He looked at Anayah. "What kind of a name is that?"

"It is indeed a strange name for a strange place."

The two elves then spent some time reading the book for they could now do so with ease. They were both horrified at the description of the creatures that lived in the house and what the foul things had done. Every once in awhile Anayah would point at one of the pictures and tell Greyfell that she had encountered that being. He could tell that to even see pictures of the creatures on a page of the book made her nervous so he read as fast as he could. Neither of them could figure out the large man for his face was extremely disfigured and was totally lacking normal skin coloring or expression of any sort although the eyes, even though just a picture, held a large portion of hate in them.

The skinny man seemed disfigured as well and the two elves determined that he had been involved in some sort of accident although he had all the normal features that the big man did not.

Two of the creatures were similar to creatures from elvish mythology and one of the beings, a man who had committed a crime, had been executed by the victim's family and seemed to have come back from death to exact retribution. It saddened both elves to know that this particular man didn't seem to be able to tell members of the original family from the beings of another time and place, and continued to kill even after he had come to wherever this place was.

The last of the creatures was, or at least had been at one time, human and apparently had at one time been the caretaker of the house they were now in. The book didn't say what had happened but the man, also horribly disfigured, now walked the hallways, looking for innocent travelers to try and bend to his will and if they would not submit, would kill them. Finally the book was finished and Greyfell closed the accursed thing and pushed it away from both of them.

"I want to go home, Greyfell."

She could tell that her friend had been as disturbed by the book as she had been and the detailed accounting of how the evil creatures had killed their victims. Finally, he sighed then stood, extending a hand to Anayah and helped her to her feet. He took Guruthos off his belt and handed it to Anayah who frowned.

"What is it, Anayah?"

"Usually when I pick Guruthos up he will flame for me. It's kind of his way of saying hello." Anayah caressed the ebony blade. "If my magic is weak in this place, then maybe his doesn't work at all."

She shrugged her shoulders.

"No matter. He is still a sword and I can still wield him." She flinched as she twirled the sword.

Greyfell looked at her with a raised eyebrow but Anayah just shrugged her shoulders.

"I want to go home really, really bad, my friend and I am not going to let a little thing like enough stitches in my body to sew a new robe for Erestor, to keep me from getting there."

The two elves touched fists then Greyfell motioned to the door.

"Then, young lady, let us get this thing done."

8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

After leaving the room, both elves walked quickly up the hallway, the elf in front keeping careful watch with a 180 degree field of vision and the elf in back carefully keeping watch over the other 180 degrees. They both had military training and used it now to creep as silently as possible through the house while praying every step of the way that they would not encounter the place's inhabitants.

The first indication that they were anywhere near an inhabitant of the house was when they went around the corner and down another hallway and suddenly came upon a man sitting on the floor with his forehead on his knees. The being was quietly weeping and when he raised his eyes to the two elves, the despair was plain for both to see. As was prudent, Anayah stayed back, keeping an eye on their surroundings while Greyfell knelt beside the man.

"Good day, sir. Is there something my friend and I can do to assist you? I take it that you are as lost in here as we are."

The human shook his head as he continued to weep.

"I don't know what happened. I was walking through my gardens where I live and closed my eyes for just a moment so that I could smell the fragrance of my roses and the next thing I knew, I was here. And now I can't find my way home."

He looked at the two with large, brown eyes that were silently begging for their assistance. Anayah set her stance and placed her hand on the hilt of her sword for when the human had looked at her, for a small space of time, she could have sworn that she saw something cold and calculating in the being's eyes. The man looked up at Greyfell.

"Why doesn't the lady come near, sir? Have I done something to offend her?"

Anayah had gotten the strangest feeling and sure enough, the second that Greyfell turned his head away from him and toward her, the man leapt to his feet and grabbed the elf around the throat from behind. The only thing that saved Greyfell's life was the fact that it took time for the creature to change and that small amount of time was enough for Anayah to reach the two.

It was difficult for Anayah to do anything to free Greyfell for even though it was between forms, the creature's grip was still firm and it was slowly throttling her friend into submission. His struggles were steadily weakening and Anayah knew they were running out of time. Greyfell was not a small elf, nor was he weak. He was as tall as Súrion at 6'3" although he was nowhere near the Silvan elf in weight, being more on the lean side. His size was all for nothing, though, for when the creature had finished changing, the massive forearm around the elf's neck was almost as big around as his thigh.

He tried everything he could think of to get the hulking creature to loose his grip. Then his vision started to tunnel and his ears buzzed as all outside sound faded away, then just when he thought he would pass out, he heard Anayah yelling at him.

"Knees!" She yelled at the strangling elf. "Knees NOW!"

Though he was almost unconscious, Greyfell still heard her clearly, and when he did, went completely limp and fell to his knees. The creature was pulled forward and off balance and instinctively let loose of his intended victim to try and keep himself from being pulled over. When enough of the thing's body was exposed, Anayah stabbed at what should have been the creature's heart.

The wolf-man raised his nose and half screamed and half howled in pain, throwing his massive head from side to side as it clawed frantically at the ebony blade imbedded in its chest, saliva splattering both elves and a good portion of the walls around them. It reached out with one massive clawed and hairy hand and swatted Anayah across the hallway as if she were no more than a fly but even though she hit the wall hard and bounced off of it, she quickly regained her feet and faced her enemy in a semi-crouch, weaving on her feet and shaking her head to clear the fuzziness out of it.

The wolf-thing clawed at the sword in its chest and careened from one side of the hallway to the other before it too went to its knees where it stayed for a time, alternating between piteous whining and a threatening growl. Anayah was horrified when the creature began crawling towards her, the deep rumble of anger and bared teeth meant to intimidate her for the only weapon strong enough to damage the creature was imbedded in its chest, which left her empty handed and vulnerable.

She started backing up in an attempt to lead the thing away from her downed friend. Locking eyes with it, she issued a challenge.

"Look at you, you piece of filth, you spawn of Sauron." She took two more steps backward, not even caring whether or not the shapeshifter even knew Sauron. "I bet you are wondering just how I knew you were a shapeshifter, don't you?"

The upper lip of the wolf curled back over white, dripping fangs as it continued to try and reach her.

"I'll take that sloppy growl to mean that you want to know. I knew you weren't human because in the first place, it is mid-fall and roses are not in bloom, and second, even from where I was standing you smelled like a wet dog. Have you ever heard of a thing called a bath?"

Anayah saw that the creature's attempts to pull itself forward were weakening and the blood trail it was leaving behind it was increasing. Finally, one of its front legs collapsed and it fell – driving the sword the rest of the way through its body. Then, its eyes closed, it exhaled one last deep sigh and drew not another breath.

She stood a few moments, until its body was finally still then watched as it changed its shape back into a man. She shook her head sadly then retrieved her sword and made her way back to the unconscious Greyfell.

Anayah turned him over very carefully, for other than almost breaking his neck, she didn't know what other damage he might have sustained in the attack. With trembling fingers, she first felt underneath his jaw for a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when she found it, listened carefully to his breathing, noting that he was breathing fine then examined the bruises on his neck,. Apparently, the creature had managed to "choke him down" but had failed to injure him any more than that. Anayah knew with certainty that if it had been her the wolf had grabbed that she wouldn't have lasted a fraction of the time that Greyfell had.

She pulled his body over to the wall then sat, and after leaning him against her body with his head on her shoulder, used a small bit of water and a piece of cloth torn from her tunic to bathe his face and carefully dabbed the darkening bruises on his throat.

After a few more moments, his eyes came open and after wandering around them, finally found then focused on her face. Greyfell tried to speak then reflexively reached for his throat with his hands, frowning at the pain his efforts had caused him.

"Is the beast dead?" His voice was no more than a hoarse whisper.

Anayah looked at the dead human and was surprised that she felt no remorse or sympathy.

"Yes, at least for the moment."

Greyfell looked at her and frowned in puzzlement.

"For the moment?"

Anayah sighed.

"Yes, my friend, for the moment." She helped him drink a little water before continuing. "Remember that I told you that I have killed the skinny man twice?"

He nodded.

"Though this is the first time that I have encountered the shapeshifter, and he does appear dead, I am afraid that if he is anything like the skinny man that death will not remain a permanent condition."

Greyfell sighed and patted the arms that she had wrapped around him to support his body.

"Then if that is the case, it is my suggestion as well as my most heartfelt wish that we move on – and as quickly as we are able."

After helping the elf to his feet, Anayah wrapped her arm around his waist and helped him walk until he was steady enough to walk on his own. Twice they encountered the skinny man but had been able to evade him. As Anayah remarked to Greyfell later, either the human was extremely arrogant or extremely stupid for he had the habit of dragging his knives against the wall when he saw them which helped them avoid him. Apparently the man had never dealt with elves before and the two of them would waste no future opportunity to educate the human on why angry elves were best avoided.

TBC


	5. Crossover

* * *

**A/N**: The quote concerning evil spoken by Anayah in the infirmary was based on a quote from the movie, _Van Helsing_. This quote, in the case of "Lament," was very appropriate.

* * *

_

And travellers now within that valley  
Through the red-litten windows see  
Vast forms that move fantastically  
To a discordant melody;  
While, like a ghastly rapid river,  
Through the pale door  
A hideous throng rush out forever,  
And laugh-but smile no more.  
Edgar Allan Poe  


_

* * *

Chapter 5 

Crossover

As Anayah and Greyfell made their way through the vast labyrinth of passageways, they began to note a change in their environment, an increased pressure in their ears and what almost seemed to be a decrease in the breathable air. The walls started to feel like they were closing in on them, but though kept a close watch and even spoke of it to each other, they both concluded that their nerves were becoming frayed and as a result, their imaginations were beginning to work overtime.

The two began to hear soft rustlings and shifting and sensed furtive movements down the different hallways they passed although they never saw anyone and never really had the desire to check these things out. Upon occasion they would hear small, quiet whisperings and it seemed that the shadows themselves would move although they couldn't say for sure that this was absolutely so. They continued onward, attempting to ignore whoever or whatever they were passing.

Suddenly, a strong, foul wind rushed upon them from one of the side passageways and swept them to the other side of the hallway and up against the wall then held them there as easily as would an adult hold a child. As the two clung together trying to breathe and to keep from being swept off their feet, everything became silent, so silent that either of them could have sworn they could hear each other's heartbeat. Then they heard they heard something they were not expecting - a quiet voice with an exacting accent that seemed to come from all around them.

"What do you fear?"

Anayah and Greyfell looked at each other then attempted to ignore the voice and move on, but were prevented from doing so when once more the wind, smelling strongly of death and decay, blew them backwards, once more forcing them up against the wall and preventing them from leaving.

"What do _you_ fear, female?"

There was a short pause then Anayah felt an ethereal presence enter her mind, probing and searching through her most private thoughts and feelings without even asking her permission. Closing her eyes and concentrating hard, she slammed the mental doors of her consciousness shut and when she did could almost sense the invisible speaker give a small gasp of surprise, for he had not been expecting such a degree of resistance from such a small being.

_This could prove to be quite interesting - oh how I love a challenge._ He thought to himself.

"Not fast enough, female, for now I know what it is that chills your soul and drains you of your will." There was a quiet chuckle. "You fear you will be abandoned because you are not good enough." He paused a moment as he savored the thought. "I assure you young female that _that_ fear alone would be enough to feed my hungry children for an age. However, it is your second fear that intrigues me the most, for it is the unknown shadow in your mind, the one that you can neither purge nor avoid that eats at your spirit and causes you such delectable torment. Ah, yes - you fear you are going mad. Perhaps I can assist you down that particular path."

As the voice had been whispering, both Anayah and Greyfell had been peering into the passageways to either side of them but had seen nothing nor had there been any sound. Though the side passages now seemed devoid of any life or consciousness, the two began to sense a number of beings beginning to gather in front and behind them, and it now seemed that they were being surrounded.

Greyfell looked at Anayah and saw the despair in her eyes and put his arms around her.

"Don't listen to him, Anayah. He is just a fool who is afraid to show us his face."

Apparently the voice had been listening closely for it gave a quiet laugh.

"Yes, elf-man, do what you can to comfort your friend, for I don't even have to enter your mind to discover your greatest fear. You fear losing your first and truest friend and that you will not be there when she needs you the most. Tell me truly, what would you be willing to endure to save her?"

Greyfell did not have the time or inclination to answer that question, for he could sense the shadow creatures drawing closer to the two of them and knew the time was was fast approaching when they would be forced them to defend themselves.

"Our game, our lives, our very existence in this place and at this moment, is all about pleasure and pain, the pleasure of the hunt and the sweet taste of success at finding each other to be balanced by the pain of trying to stay alive while you attempt to find your way home. I am wondering, elf-man, just how much of each you would be willing to endure just to save your friend - to get her home alive? Would it cause you pain to see her die within reach of your goal? Would the pain you feel give you strength and resolve or would it take it away? Pain is a delicious concept, is it not? A concept that can make even the strongest person, male or female, human or not, weep and cry out in ecstasy. Will it be the same for you I wonder?"

Anayah's face had been buried on Greyfell's shoulder and even though her body trembled she still reached up and put an encouraging hand on the side of his face. In turn, he kissed her hand then held it to his heart, gaining strength from the touch, as he closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath.

"I don't even know who you are although I can pretty well guess that you have no honor or feelings for anyone but yourself, and I know that I may be stating the obvious to you, but I will go to whatever ends and endure whatever I must to see my friend safely home. And neither you nor your foul shadow-horde can keep me from doing that, so be gone with you and let us be on our way!"

"I think not elf-man, for once Lament has you there is no going … home, for the doorway to this place closed behind you and cannot be opened again until the price to do so has been paid in advance and it is the life of you and your friend that will pay what is due." He laughed. "Doesn't the irony of this cause such sweet torment?"

The voice as well all other noises in the hallway died away until all that was left was the proverbial calm before the storm - the eve of battle, in a sense.

As the shadow creatures crept ever closer to the two elves, Greyfell soothingly rubbed Anayah's back and whispered into her ear.

"Anayah, I know you are frightened because I am frightened as well. But we both need our wits about us ... neither of us can afford to heed the words of that madman for there is warrior work ahead of us and we must both be strong for each other. Can you be strong for me?"

Though she didn't answer, he felt her nod her head and after only a few moments more, she pushed herself away and backed up two steps, drawing Guruthos as she did. The sounds of many feet could now be plainly heard and when Greyfell saw her look to where the horde was coming toward them from the shadows then back at him, his heart fell. Her eyes were filled with both tragedy and finality and he knew at that moment, with certainty, that she no more thought that they would get through this than he did.

He also knew, though, that they would do honor to their houses and their family before death took either of them. He allowed himself a small smile because for the first time, he was realizing that in her heart, Anayah had adopted him. He sighed deeply, and vowed that he would honor that great deed, for it meant more to him than his own immortality.

The two elves stood back to back, waiting, and when the multitude finally emerged from the shadows, screaming and babbling incoherently, both elves were surprised, for the creatures were short, thin, waif-like creatures. But it was there that the similarity to any sentient life form ended, for the things had no eyes, no ears and no noses - only mouths, outlined with sharp, spiked teeth. Then the creatures were upon them, pulling and biting at them, raking them with their sharp, talon-tipped fingers.

Both elves swung their swords with lethal intent, but the more of the enemy they killed, more took their places, as they poured out of the shadows in what seemed like one continuous stream. Above the din of the battle, they could still hear the laughter of the one who still lurked in the shadows.

"Ah, yes ... the sweet, sweet smell of fear. I believe I will make this a little more interesting, for my children have not had such a good time in ... forever."

The last word was almost inaudible, but Greyfell still heard them in the back of his mind, although he was too busy keeping himself alive at that time to wonder at their meaning. What the man in the shadows meant by his last words was made painfully clear when the temperature began to drop dramatically and the rain began to fall.

Both elves were now able to see their breath turning to a frosty vapor in the air as they began to slip more often on the floor of the hallway that was fast becoming covered with a thin layer of ice. Their hands were slipping on the hilts of their swords and several times one or the other of them had almost dropped their weapons as stiff, half-frozen hands became almost unwilling to grasp what they ought.

Soon the two combatants found themselves battling the odd elements as well as the faceless beings. They could see their breaths in the air and even though they would normally not be affected by the change in weather, they were both fighting injured, Anayah had been wounded before he had even arrived and they had both been on edge from all the horrors they had witnessed in this place.

His heart could have stopped, and almost did, when he saw one of the creatures stab one of its talons into Anayah's chest. She dropped her sword, went to her knees, then quickly disappeared beneath a sea of bodies.

Greyfell lost it then, for the words of the shadow man were still echoing in his mind and heart. Yes, losing Anayah was his greatest fear but he would do whatever was necessary to save her, even though he knew not where they could go in this accursed place where the horde could not find them. He didn't even know if it was possible to elude them, although he did know with certainty that death would take them both before either of them surrendered. He didn't even know if Anayah still lived - all that he knew was that he needed to get to her.

His sword was mighty as it cut through the creatures, severing limbs and heads at its master's command. Greyfell gave no thought to the wounds he, himself was receiving as he slowly made his way through the horde to where he had last seen Anayah. Finally, he reached her then grabbed two of the creatures, pulled them away from her and tossed them aside. At first it seemed like a miracle when he saw her angry green eyes looking back at him but then he admitted the situation was entirely logical. There were so many of the creatures around her that they hindered their own efforts to destroy her. The icy rain that fell from no sky continued to wash over them, the resulting rivulets of water turning pink with their own blood as well as that dark, evil blood of those they had wounded and killed.

Then it happened - a white glow began to light up the hallway where they were fighting. It increased in intensity, driving the horde away from the two. Greyfell could have wept, for when he tried to find the source of the light, he saw the air shimmer, not more than ten feet away. Paying no attention to the disoriented shadow-creatures, he gathered a now unconscious Anayah's still body into his arms then while trying desperately to shield her from further hurts, made a run for the doorway and jumped through it. On the other side, he stumbled briefly - before falling headfirst down a flight of stairs.

As if from a great distance he heard a familiar voice talking to him. At first he couldn't understand the words at all as he desperately tried to hold on to Anayah, to protect her, not understanding that the two of them had finally made it home.

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"Captain Greyfell, you can let go of her now. Captain?"

Rahan knelt beside Lord Elrond.

"Let me try, my Lord."

Elrond nodded and moved aside, making room for the elf. Kneeling on the other side of the two, Súrion looked on worriedly. Rahan moved the hair off Greyfell's face then felt the icy skin with the back of his fingers, frowning as he did so.

"Your job is finished, Captain Greyfell, for you are once more home. You can stand down. Stand down, Captain."

Everyone standing around breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the Captain's eyes come open and look around while at the same time, he loosed his grip on Anayah. He tried to speak but was unable and a single tear made its way down his cheek as he finally realized that they had left the shadow realm behind them. Rahan smiled at him and as Lord Elrond lifted Anayah off the floor and started to carry her towards the infirmary, Greyfell tried to go with her but was prevented from doing so by the firm hands of both Rahan and Súrion for they both knew that if he rose right away that he would pass out.

Aragorn placed a warm blanket in Rahan's hands and after Súrion helped Greyfell to sit up, wrapped it around his shivering shoulders.

"Captain Rahan, if you would be so kind as to help Captain Greyfell to the infirmary, I would appreciate it - he is losing a lot of blood."

Elladan stepped back as the two Thurin Tirith helped the elf to his feet then he and his brothers followed as the three slowly made their way to the infirmary.

Thranduil, Glorfindel and Legolas were standing beside a scowling Gandalf.

"Gandalf? What is concerning you, my friend?" The Mirkwood King could tell that something serious was occupying the wizard's attention.

After some moments of silence, the Istar turned to face the elves.

"I am afraid that we have a problem. I will explain as we all move to the infirmary."

As the four followed the others, Gandalf tried to explain as best he could.

"I was hoping that this would not happen but since it has, we will have to deal with it. It seems that when I used the magic of my staff to drive back the horde that I accidentally jammed the doorway open."

Everyone stopped then turned and looked back at the shimmering spot at the top of the stairs. Gandalf took the arm of both Thranduil and Glorfindel and continued walking to the infirmary followed closely by Legolas.

"Apparently the intrusion of the two worlds combined with good meeting evil has prevented the door from closing. That means, my friends, that whatever is on the other side is now free to enter our world."

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When the final group had reached the infirmary, Gandalf closed the door and enchanted it which, if all went well, would keep them all as safe as possible until they could figure out what they were going to do. As Gandalf took the elder elves to one side and filled them in on what was going on, the others listened to the house creak and groan and make other various and assorted strange sounds.

Elladan and Elrohir were seeing to the medical needs of Greyfell which consisted of almost too many stitches to count and Aragorn was filling in for his father with Anayah while Lord Elrond was in his impromptu council. While none of Anayah's various injuries were in any way life threatening, she was unconscious as well as in deep shock which could be as damaging physically as a mortal wound.

The four Thurin Tirith Guards were hovering and it was only various and assorted glares and raised eyebrows from Aragorn that kept them far enough back from the bed to give him adequate room to do his job. All four felt guilty about not being the ones who went after her when she was lost in the "other world," but it was Rahan who would probably take the most time to leave that guilt behind him. As Captain, Anayah's health and well-being was his responsibility and anything that happened to her, good or bad, was his responsibility as well, for such was the framework of command.

For a time, Elrond had entertained the thought that he was going to have to sedate Súrion, but strangely enough, it was the Silvan Guard's fellow wood elf, Legolas, who had managed to calm the Guard down. His efforts were just enough so that he would not only be functional but also so his constant pacing and worried looks didn't drive the rest of them mad as well.

Finally, Lord Elrond signaled for everyone's attention.

"Gandalf tells me that when he used his magic to drive back the horde that was attacking Greyfell and Anayah that it physically jammed the doorway between our two worlds open and the atrocities from that place could now very well be inside this house. Elladan, has the moon moved at all?"

The eldest twin moved to the infirmary's window and looked outside.

"It is now straight up in the sky, Ada. There has been some progress and that should be encouraging."

"Thank you, my son. That is encouraging but it also tells us that we have an unknown amount of time in which we must make diligent efforts to stay alive. While we have no guarantees that the phenomenon will not reach this room and after having discussed the matter at some length, King Thranduil, Lord Glorfindel, Gandalf and I have decided that we will take up an aggressive defense of this house."

Their attention was diverted for a time when Anayah started to wake and as was the case with most trauma victims, she woke in the same place where she had lost consciousness - in the middle of a battle. Aragorn was flung backwards and would have fallen to the floor if Legolas had not caught him. She clipped Súrion on the jaw with the palm of her hand and was half way out of bed before Rahan finally managed to wrap his big arms around her and gently confine her until she had regained consciousness the rest of the way and knew where she was.

Finally after a few moments, her eyes came fully open and began to look suspiciously around the room but when she saw where she was and who was standing around the two beds, she burst out in tears and hid her face on Rahan's shoulder. Aragorn fixed a sedative tea for her and even put a generous amount of honey in it, but she refused to drink it and nothing anyone said, even Rahan who usually had great influence with her, could get her to drink it.

Suddenly she sat upright and tried to push Rahan away from her and although he did loosen his hold on her a bit, did not release her altogether.

"Greyfell! Where is he? Is he all right? What aren't you telling me?"

Seeing that she was getting excited again, Elladan and Elrohir helped the Captain stand and walk the couple of feet to Anayah's bed. When she saw him standing there, she gave a sigh and finally relaxed in Rahan's arms although she still refused the tea.

Greyfell gently laid his hand on the side of her face.

"Be at peace, Anayah, for I am here and although there is some discomfort, I am feeling well enough to do it all over again ... in the next millennium."

Everyone smiled at his light humor.

Motioning for Greyfell to sit on the edge of her bed, Anayah arranged herself in a more dignified manner although everyone noticed that she was not letting loose of Rahan's arm. They could all easily understand that until she regained her emotional strength and focus, her confidence would be directly linked to the care and support of the Captain of her Guards.

"So ... are things back to normal now?"

"I'm afraid not, Anayah."

Gandalf walked to the side of the bed, sat down, and took her hand.

"I'm afraid that my magic has jammed the doorway between the two worlds open."

The grey wizard became concerned when he saw all the color leave Anayah's face.

"You broke it?" She said in a small quiet voice. "Can you fix it?"

Gandalf sighed and patted her hands.

"As a member in good standing of the Istari Order, it is doubly embarrassing for me to have to admit that I don't have the first idea how to repair what my magic broke."

"Well, it's not like you have much cause for honing such skills and knowledge, my friend." Elrond laid a comforting hand on the wizard's shoulder.

"Has anybody considered just asking It if It can help close the door?"

There was an immediate and total silence. Lord Elrond frowned.

"Would you care to explain what you mean, Anayah?"

Anayah sighed then after looking around the room and seeing Ethan standing on the fringe of the group, motioned the human to her side. She smiled at the nervous man.

"Be at ease, Master Ethan, for you have nothing to fear from this rag tag bunch."

There was a lot of mumbling and more than one wink from those in the room. Anayah took Ethan's hand.

"I would like for you to listen to what I am going to tell the others, Ethan, and if you disagree with something I say or would like to add something, then please feel free to do so. Are you agreeable to this?"

When the human nodded, she continued.

"In that place of horrors, was a book, written by someone called Lament and if my suspicions are correct and Lament is the name of that place, then the fact a book had been written and placed in that room suggests that this Lament does have a consciousness. When Greyfell and I were battling those small, faceless creatures, and just before I lost consciousness, I saw first a white light which I think was Gandalf's magic then a doorway. Lament took a great risk creating a doorway for us to move through so close to those creatures. This care giving aspect of Lament suggests not only consciousness but also a conscience and that could only lead to the conclusion that Lament is sentient.

I think, and again, correct me if you think I am wrong, Ethan, but I believe Lament is not totally evil and especially in this case, did make a conscious effort to do good. Lament may contain evil and evil may have touched It but evil does not rule It."

She frowned for a moment before continuing.

"I forgot where I heard that or who said it, but the words do bear merit."

Without warning, every light in the room went out then a soft wind swirled through the room and among the beings in it. There was the sound of a soft sigh then the quiet whisper of a voice, but though the voice was quiet, nobody had any trouble whatsoever hearing the words.

"It has been long since last we spoke. Many worlds, many suns and many stars have been born and have passed into oblivion since that time. You have need to speak with us?"

Rahan could feel Anayah trembling underneath his arms that were still wrapped around her. For her part, Anayah gathered her thoughts then spoke.

"Do you feel pain, Lament?"

There was a pause and though those in the room felt they could be imagining things, there was more than one who would say that "Lament" had been surprised by Anayah's question.

"Why would you care, young female?"

"Because you are sentient and those of us in this room wish to know if our actions have harmed you or have caused you pain."

"There is no damage that cannot be repaired." There was a slight pause before Lament again spoke. "Now, what question do you wish to ask of us?"

"We would like to know if you want us to fix the doorway that was accidentally jammed open."

There was another short pause.

"That damage has already been repaired. However, we must warn you that beings from this place crossed over into your world before the doorway was closed. One of these has shown a particular interest in you, in fact."

Though she tried hard to maintain the calm front she had adopted while speaking, her breath hitched and it was some moments before she could speak again.

"How can we return these residents to your world, Lament?"

"We do not wish for them to return." Was the short reply.

There was a stunned silence and everyone felt their stomachs tighten at the prospect of hosting some of the creatures Ethan had told them about. Anayah thought for a moment then got an idea.

"Lament, I understand what you are saying when you say that you do not wish for these beings to be returned but I have seen the pains you have taken to care for these beings, to provide a home for them and to contain them within your boundaries. I understand also that this is your function for, you are their keeper, are you not?"

The last sentence was more of a statement than a question.

"Your world ... the house ... you ... are passing through our own world, something that will probably never happen again. While I was within your boundaries, you cared for me as best you could and you even risked creating a doorway for my friend and I so we could come home. You have taken great care to try and do what was right for everyone that visited as well as lived in your world and you have also tried hard to put things back in their correct places when things have gone astray. Therefore, using those arguments, I know you might not want your residents back, but will you take them back if we can get them to you?"

"We are thinking."

Everyone waited patiently for the reply.

"We will take them back. If you can get them to where the last doorway was, we will see that they are put into the correct world."

Anayah nodded.

"We could ask no more of you."

Then the darkness was gone and the candles and glows once more lit the room.

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Anayah sagged in Rahan's arms and it was a few moments before she had regained enough strength to speak.

"Ethan, you know these creatures best. How do you suggest that we proceed?"

The human shifted uncomfortably where he was sitting.

"I believe that there are three constants when dealing with the horrors from that world. First, you must find your enemy, second, you must meet your enemy, and third, you must defeat your enemy." He blushed a deep shade of red. "I am sorry that I can be no more clear on the subject, but I must admit that my own survival in that place is more due to being able to outsmart and outrun the creatures than it was by fighting them. However, if someone could tell me what creatures have made their way into this world, I could tell you the best methods for fighting that particular creature. I have seen other beings through the years who had also become trapped and I observed the methods they employed that seemed to be the most effective."

Anayah looked at Rahan.

"Rahan? What do you think about sending Súrion and Saeros out to take a look? I think that as our stealth experts that they would have the best chance of finding where everybody is."

Rahan looked at the elder elves and at Gandalf and when he saw them nod, turned to his elves.

"Súrion and Saeros, you have a go. I know this is what you were trained to do but I also want you to be safe while you find out what we want to know. If the situation deteriorates too much, pull yourselves out and return to the infirmary. Semoro, you stay with me to provide military support for our wounded as well as the others."

He looked at Ethan.

"Ethan, would you please brief my elves on what they might have to expect?"

Ethan had turned and walked off a bit with the two elves when Lord Elrond got his attention and when he nodded his head toward Anayah and when he looked down, saw that she had fallen asleep. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that it was probably not a restful sleep, but at least it was something.

TBC


	6. For Home and Family

* * *

_

So fitfully, so fearfully,  
Above the closed and fringëd lid  
'Neath which thy slumb'ring soul lies hid,  
That, o'er the floor and down the wall,  
Like ghosts the shadows rise and fall  
Edgar Allan Poe

_

* * *

Chapter 6

For Home and Family

Preparations were being made by the Guards to "infiltrate" enemy territory, as Súrion said with a grin, at which time they would determine enemy strengths, positions as well as points of vulnerability. Aragorn glared at the Silvan Guard.

"I know you are just loving the fact that we don't have a clue as to what you just said so will you quit picking on us and repeat what you just said in a way that even us lowly know-nothings can understand?"

Súrion put one of his big arms around the young man's neck and after pulling him closer, ruffled his hair. Aragorn pulled away and made a great show of smoothing down the unruly locks that had already been unruly before the Silvan elf had further disturbed them.

After the quiet laughter had died down, Aragorn once more turned to the elf, noting that there was now an extremely serious look in the elf's eyes, quite different from a few moments earlier.

"I'm sorry, Estel, but I had to lighten the mood around here – at least for the moment." He looked at the expectant faces of the others. "Saeros and I will go through the house and try and find the enemy also known as beings from Lament. We will not only find them, but we will observe them for as long as it is safe to do so in order to determine if they have any weak points that we can use when we finally engage them."

Rahan adjusted the blanket on a peacefully sleeping Anayah.

"You two," he said while indicating Saeros and Súrion, "make a quick trip to the barracks and grab the equipment bags and bring them back here."

After the Guards left, he took a quick look at the others, noting that everyone was already wearing their swords. Elrond noticed that he was checking to see if they had any weapons.

"No matter how safe we think we are, Captain Rahan, it is always better to be prepared when we know that danger is near. I don't believe that there are any among us, even Gandalf, who would relish the prospect of death. Yes, we gathered our weapons after Anayah disappeared and have kept them with us since that time."

Rahan nodded appreciatively.

Every conscious being in the room turned to the door of the infirmary with their hands on their swords when they heard the approach of rapidly moving footsteps. They all sighed with relief when they saw that it was only the returning Thurin Tirith, Súrion and Saeros. Saeros smiled at the group as he set two of the equipment bags down on a vacant bed.

"I am glad to see that you were all prepared to meet the enemy even though it was only two Thurin Tirith stealth masters walking heavily to let you know that it was only us and not some ugly beast from another time and place that was approaching your place of sanctuary."

Rahan shook his head.

"Will the two of you expend some of that excess energy preparing yourselves and let the rest of these elves and humans alone?"

As the others in the room once more relaxed, the two Guards opened their equipment bags then began to prepare for what they were about to do. As the two changed into their stealth uniforms, Rahan once more briefed them on exactly how he wanted them to conduct their mission.

"I hope the two of you fully understand that this is only a stealth mission and that there is to be absolutely no contact with anyone or anything that you find. The only time this order should be considered breakable is if the circumstances are dire, and that means, that only if you are in danger of dying. It is imperative that at least one of you gets back here with the information we need."

The two elves nodded then continued putting on their uniforms which also included special hair ties that would hide their hair and a thick paste that would help make any exposed skin look like part of the normal shadows of the room.

"Captain?"

"Yes, Elladan?"

"I know very little of the Thurin Tirith Order and find what you have shared with us to be fascinating. However, I couldn't help but note a certain coldness when you told your elves that it was imperative that at least one of them get back here with the information on the enemy. What about the elf that would get left behind? Isn't it your Commander's policy that nobody gets left behind?"

Rahan thought about the question for a moment.

"Yes, young Lord, it is Anayah's policy that nobody gets left behind, but she also knows that there is always a chance that one of us, herself included, might have to pay the ultimate price to protect the innocents under our care, the innocents being everyone in this room. There isn't a Guard in my unit that wouldn't go above and beyond to see that everyone makes it back, but we all know that sometimes that isn't realistically going to be possible. As a warrior _you_ know this as does everyone else in this room. You have all left friends and acquaintances on the battlefield knowing they were not dead. Sometimes it is just not possible to get everyone to safety."

"A sad fact, but a true one." Elrond said sadly, while thinking back over the long millennia of his life and remembering those he had to walk away from.

The other elves and humans continued to silently watch the Guards prepare, amazed at how such large elves could almost disappear while standing in front of them. Though the twins, Legolas and Aragorn had witnessed almost the same thing while they had been in Hoth, they were still fascinated at the procedure and the careful attention to detail. They looked at the Guards from different directions and different angles, noting how the two already blended in with their environment even before they had finished dressing in their stealth attire.

Súrion was almost amused at the almost childlike fascination the young ones were showing. He let them touch the face paste and rub some of it on themselves all while explaining what it was supposed to do. Though the older elves remained silent, all the Guards knew they were just as interested in what was going on as the young ones were.

"One of the main components in a stealth situation is the elf's ability to hide his fëa, for it is this, that a target can usually sense, no matter the species the target belongs to." He met their eyes. "Haven't all of you at one time or another, been somewhere when you suddenly feel like someone is watching you and when you look, see someone on the far side of the room staring at you?"

He could tell by the expression on their faces that this had actually happened to them. He continued.

"Haven't you ever questioned why or how you knew they were watching you? While most beings would attribute this talent to carefully honed instincts, what you actually sensed was the fëa of the person turning its attention to you – it actually and sometimes accidentally touches your own. We are trained to hide our fëa ... to silence it and blind it ... so that it can not be detected by another."

Rahan continued the explanation so that Súrion could finish his preparations.

"Another tactic we use is misdirection and applying the unexpected." The Captain smiled at the young ones. "Súrion was telling me that when he made contact with you in the slave barracks in Hoth, Estel, that somebody interrupted your meeting but when you, Halgar and Lothur turned, he was gone. The misdirection and the unexpected came into play because he used your attention being turned to another to disappear, if you will. The _unexpected_ was when you expected that he had disappeared out the window which he had not done – that is where most beings would have expected him to go."

"Then if he didn't go out the window, where was he?"

Aragorn jumped and grabbed his heart as Súrion touched his left ear with one finger. He glared at the grinning elf who pointed at the ceiling.

"No. You weren't!"

"Did any of the three of you bother to look up?"

He could tell that Aragorn was thinking about it.

"We don't try to hide ourselves but just make ourselves a part of our surroundings and hide our fëa. This paste we put on ourselves helps us blend in with the natural shadows of a particular place and also neutralizes our scent which in an elf is usually related to nature anyway although the smell of a forest setting no matter how peaceful and ordinary it may seem to us, would seem out of place to ... an orc for example ... and he might be alerted to our presence and would start looking around – hence the paste."

"It certainly amazes me that someone as large as you four can hide yourselves so easily."

All heads turned to Ethan who blushed with embarrassment at the attention and dropped his eyes. Saeros put an arm around the man's shoulders to try and put him at ease.

"It doesn't matter how large or small a person is, Master Ethan, whether they are halfling size or troll size – if they know their surroundings, their environment and hopefully something about the enemy, or target, they have a better than average chance of being successful in their mission and getting out of it alive."

Both Guards were now fully prepared to leave and had replaced various items in the equipment bags then had put the bags aside. Súrion sat himself on the edge of an empty bed.

"Anybody can be fooled or misdirected – size matters little in that area as well."

He and Saeros went to stand on either side of Rahan then the Silvan Guard smiled.

"When I was taking the required test for my Master's ranking, I managed to do something that my fellow Thurin Tirith friends said wasn't possible. I stalked my teacher."

There were surprised looks on many of the elves that were gathered around listening.

"You stalked your teacher?"

"Yes, Prince Legolas. I stalked my teacher and took a piece of meat off his dinner plate while it was sitting in front of him on the dinner table - and he never saw me do it."

"And I still don't think it was funny. It was innovative, however, and there was no way that I couldn't grant you your Master's ranking."

Rahan was glowering fiercely although the wink he sent Súrion softened the severity of the moment.

"Well, boss, I think it is time that Saeros and I got this thing done."

Rahan nodded in agreement. Both elves kissed Anayah on her forehead and when Súrion was doing so, those nearest to him could hear him whispering to her.

"We will be back soon, little sister. You just rest, for you have earned it."

Both Guards touched fists with Greyfell and though he said nothing, he was touched by their gesture, for it meant that the two Guards now counted him as a trusted friend.

The two walked to the door, where they turned and looked at the beings in the room one last time. They both tapped their hearts twice with their fists before they turned and disappeared into the shadows beyond the door.

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After the two elves left the infirmary, they began their hunt for the unexpected. Neither they nor those they had left behind could say for sure exactly who, or what, they were going to find. They could find one creature that Ethan had told them about or they could find 20 creatures that nobody knew about or had seen before. The only constant factor that they could come up with was that they should look for whatever wasn't normal – what they had never seen in Lord Elrond's house before.

Using hand signals that only another Thurin Tirith could see, the two went from room to room, looking in closets, under the beds, in cupboards and in chests and drawers. They found five creatures, the only ones that either Ethan, Anayah or Greyfell told them about being conspicuously absent was the Once-human as he was called and the shadow horde that had attacked Anayah and Greyfell just before they had found their way home. Even though nobody could say with certainty what the Once-human actually looked like, Saeros and Súrion could find nobody that matched the profile they had put together from the thing's conversation with their friends – nor could they find the shadow horde.

After the two elves had gone through the entire house, they quietly and carefully began making their way back towards the infirmary. They had just stepped out of the Hall of Fire when Súrion gave his partner the hand signal to freeze. Although Saeros was standing next to a wall and was better able to blend in and therefore, hide, Súrion was caught a few steps away – he was in plain sight of one of the faceless creatures from the shadow horde.

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_No fear, no mind, no emotion, no sight._ The Silvan Guard thought to himself.

He closed his eyes and in his mind, pictured a black void, hoping that when he did so, the nearby creature would be unable to detect his presence. In truth, nobody could say for certain how the things could detect anything for all Anayah and Greyfell and even Ethan could say about the things was that they were small, deadly and all they had was a mouth with razor sharp teeth.

Though his consciousness was centered someplace else, Súrion was still aware of the creature snuffling around near his feet. As Saeros would later inform him, the creature could sense something but couldn't tell where that something was. There were few elves, even among the Thurin Tirith Order that had mastered the mind discipline that would allow them to hide in plain sight as Súrion was doing now.

After its curiosity seemed to have been satisfied, the creature moved on. The two Guards waited a few more moments then continued to make their way back to the infirmary while all around them, the great house groaned and creaked as if it was waging its own war with an invading world.

8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

When the two Guards opened the door to the infirmary, they both almost met the business end of more swords than they would have liked. After some profuse apologies for startling everyone, the two Guards sat down in the chairs that the twins and Aragorn got for them then spent a few moments relaxing and unwinding from the stress of their mission. Rahan put a hand on Súrion's shoulder for he had noticed the barely perceptible tremors of the elf's hands.

"Súrion?"

When the Guard only held up a hand to signal that he needed a few moments to collect himself, Rahan frowned with concern and looked at Saeros who he could tell was as concerned for the Silvan Guard as was he.

"Saeros?"

"The void, Rahan. A small faceless creature was sitting almost at his feet."

Rahan nodded in understanding then turned to the others and walked them a few steps away to give Súrion a few moments to collect himself.

"There are few elves who can totally empty their minds then maintain that condition for any length of time, for the physical and emotional effort required can easily exhaust an elf. When this is done correctly, however, it can seem like the elf has disappeared into thin air. In effect, they have left nothing behind that any being can detect."

8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

After Súrion had spent a few moments relaxing and regaining his focus, he signaled to his Captain who had just spent time with Saeros and the others, telling them of the creatures that had been found. It was decided that as Master of his home, that it would fall to Lord Elrond to "assign" different people to different creatures. They all hoped that things would go smoothly and the beings could be dispatched quickly then sent back to Lament, for there wasn't one among them who didn't want the nightmare to end.

Elladan and Elrohir would seek out the shapeshifter who could take on the form of a wolf. The beast had last been seen in the family's downstairs sitting room, snuffling around the papers and furniture as if it had never seen such things before and was investigating both them and the scent that the others had left behind.

Elrond would seek out the other shapeshifter, the one who resembled Thuringwethil from their own elvish mythology, the bat messenger of Sauron. This creature had been found in the basement.

Gandalf would seek out the "skinny man" as he was called. This individual had been seen lounging on the furniture in the Common Room and looking out the windows.

With Súrion as his backup, Rahan would seek out the large human who had been seen in the Hall of Fire, for it had been unanimously decided that because of his size, the Captain would stand the best chance of surviving the encounter.

The task of seeking out the dark-skinned man with only one hand was given to Aragorn and Legolas while anybody and anything else that had entered their world from Lament would be taken care of by Glorfindel, Thranduil, Ethan, Semoro and Saeros. Greyfell would stay in the infirmary to watch over Anayah. That job was well suited to the elf who was already weakened from his previous encounters with the creatures from Lament.

The Once-human would be taken on by whoever found him. Nobody was comfortable with the fact that he had been conspicuously absent when the two Thurin Tirith had been going through the house looking for beings. They already knew he had lied to Greyfell and Anayah about there being no doorway from Lament to their home so it would only stand to reason that he had some other way for himself to travel back and forth. As long as the two worlds were "stuck" inside each other, just about anything was possible.

As everybody was preparing to leave, Gandalf called them all together for some last minute instructions.

"You are all going to be facing creatures and beings that you have never had a chance to get to know and while this will be understandably stressful, I am confident that each and every one of you will survive – such is my faith in the strength of your hearts and spirits. Be strong for each other, back each other up and do not, under any circumstance even consider defeat. None of us can say with any degree of certainty just what the outcome of all this will be. Know only that you will be fighting for your family and your home – perhaps even for your very lives."

Gandalf stepped back as Elrond walked forward to give the group his blessing.

"Ethan tells me that in Lament, these creatures had remarkable regenerative powers, such that even death was not a permanent condition. Remember this and never turn your back on the beasts, even if you believe you have won the battle. I am proud of the courage you are all showing and such speaks so highly of your character that I have no doubts that our home as well as our lives are in good hands."

Elrond turned to Rahan.

"Captain, if you and your elves are ready …"

Rahan looked at Greyfell.

"Take care of our baby, Captain Greyfell. We are trusting you with our heart."

Greyfell met the Captain's eyes.

"Rest assured, Captain Rahan, that as long as I draw breath, no harm will come to Anayah."

Rahan nodded.

"Just make sure you _both_ are here and in one piece when we return."

With one last nod and a final glance, Rahan and the others turned and left the room.

TBC


	7. The Battle Begins

_

* * *

_

_There is nothing wrong with your television set.  
Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission.  
If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume.  
If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper.  
We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical.  
We can roll the image, make it flutter.  
We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity.  
For the next hour sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear.  
We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your television set.  
You are about to participate in a great adventure.  
You are about to experience the awe and mystery  
which reaches from the inner mind to...  
The Outer Limits._

* * *

Chapter 6

The Battle Begins

After the others had left the infirmary, Greyfell pulled up a chair beside Anayah's bed then sat in it. Reaching over, he was just pulling the blanket up a little higher on her shoulders when she opened her eyes and almost scared a millennium off his immortal life. She smiled as the elf sat full back in his chair with one hand clutching his madly beating heart.

"Are you _trying_ to finish what that cursed shadow horde started?"

She reached out with one hand and patted his arms.

"My apologies, my friend, but I must speak with you."

Greyfell sat forward in his chair and gave Anayah his full attention. She frowned as she gathered her thoughts.

"I know that everyone has gone to try and put the creatures back into Lament – or get them to a place where Lament can do it, itself but there is another matter I have been thinking about and a way in which I think I may be able to help."

Greyfell got her a glass of water and she took a drink before continuing with her thoughts.

"No. Absolutely not, Anayah. You are not getting out of that bed to go ..."

"Wait a minute - please." She laid a calming hand on his which he had rested on the bed, close to where her head was laying.

"I don't have to leave this bed to do what I have to."

It took a moment but finally a look of realization came to Greyfell's face.

"You don't mean that you would ... mind walk?"

"That's exactly what I mean, Greyfell. There would be a minimal risk to me and I wouldn't have to leave this room – so-to-speak."

"I would like to know what you mean by minimal risk, young lady."

Anayah played with the hem of her blanket – another fact that led her friend to believe that he wasn't going to like what she was going to say next.

"I would be incorporeal and so could not be injured, but if I get too tired and lose my focus, I could lose my way and wouldn't be able to find my way back to my body."

She saw Greyfell open his mouth to respond and interrupted him.

"That is where you would come in. If you see my complexion take on an unnatural hue or if I begin to breathe oddly – or not at all – you could call me back. If you touch my hand or my arm ... it would divert my attention and I would have no choice but to return."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"And tell me, who would you be going after?"

"Once-human – I am going to mess with his mind." There was a look of grim determination in her eyes. "Maybe he will get the hint and go back to the hole he crawled out of."

8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

To say that leaving the infirmary was the beginning of a grand adventure would have been a serious understatement. Elladan caught his twin just as Elrohir tripped on a rock and almost fell face first onto the grass at their feet. After the youngest twin had regained his balance, he looked at Elladan then around them both with amazement.

They stood at the edge of a forest whose tall, stately trees towered above them both. Thick underbrush made seeing into the forest itself difficult though both elves would have wanted to be able to clearly see the area in which they would be hunting.

They both noticed two things immediately. First, the lowest branches of the trees were too far above their heads to grab on to, nor could one brother boost the other up high enough to grab hold of a limb. The second thing they noticed was that although the nearby bushes whipped back and forth as if driven by a serious wind and dirt and other forest debris swirled around them, they could not hear the wind that drove the phenomena. It was almost as if the two of them had suddenly lost their hearing. The subdued lighting of the area could have been mistaken for early evening and cast eerie shadows on the landscape around them and when they looked to the sky, both saw clouds whipping by as if time had sped up – at least for them.

The twins tried to familiarize themselves with their surroundings as they began their hunt and attempted to pick up any trail the shapeshifter might have left. The two wondered how they were expected to find any kind of a trail with the wind whipping bushes into their faces and dirt into their eyes. Afterwards the thought came to them that they should have known that the easiest way to find the creature would have been to sit down in the middle of wherever they were and wait for the thing to come to them. But then, such are the nature of afterthoughts.

Without any warning, the wolfman burst out of the nearby forest and using the advantage of its size and weight, took Elladan to the ground where it sank it teeth into his shoulder and bore down, tearing flesh and crushing bones as it did so. Elladan screamed in shock and pain and though he tried valiantly to push the creature away, he found that he could not, for it had locked it jaws. As the creature bit down even harder, he felt his collarbone break and he screamed for Elrohir, begging his brother to help him.

Elrohir had been momentarily frozen in place when the shapeshifter had burst out of the forest but he quickly found his mobility when he heard his brother scream in fear as well as pain. He raised his sword and was preparing to go to his brother's aid and strike the creature down when he saw that his hand was empty. He then spun in a complete circle as he looked at the ground around him for his missing sword, not understanding how he could not have noticed that he had dropped it. Then he realized that Elladan's sword was gone as well.

Turning to where the wolf was mauling his brother with fang as well as claw, Elrohir grabbed the upper and lower jaws of the creature and attempted to pry its jaws apart and force it to release its victim. With one massive hand, the wolfman reached back and raked his talons down the front of the youngest twin, slicing deeply into his chest and shoulder. It was not a fatal wound, but it was serious enough.

Elrohir fell backwards onto the forest floor, gasping in pain and holding onto his chest as blood poured from between his fingers. His heart was screaming at him that Elladan needed him and after a time, when the fuzziness had cleared from his mind, he began to crawl to where Elladan and the wolfman still fought. He desperately willed his pain-filled body to move forward, and it did move, but not fast enough. Once more the creature moved its hand toward him, slapping him backwards, then grabbing Elladan by one leg, it ran off into the forest. Elrohir uttered a long drawn out cry of frustration then knelt where he was, rocking back and forth and sobbing out his despair. Finally, after a time, he wiped the tears from his eyes and off his cheeks then pulling himself to his feet, began to track the beast that had taken his brother, swearing to all the Valar that he would kill the creature with his bare hands.

For more days than he cared to remember, he tracked the shapeshifter, following not only its tracks but the blood trail his brother was leaving behind as he was drug away. Though it was difficult to determine day from night in a bizarre place where there was not much difference in lighting and where the sun and moon were never seen, he judged that it was the evening of the fourth day when he finally came upon the two he sought.

The creature was sitting perfect still and staring at something off in the distance and didn't hear Elrohir approaching. Picking up the largest rock he could find, the twin silently crept up behind the shapeshifter and after raising the rock over his head, brought it down with all his strength. There was a sickening crunch as the rock hit the wolfman's head then the creature fell forward and lay still and not long after that, the wolf was gone, leaving in its place the body of a man.

Not having the strength to do much else, Elrohir crawled to his brother and lifted his head then cradled it tenderly in his lap. Caressing his brow, he called to Elladan and was relieved when moments later his brother opened his pain filled eyes. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth and a pink froth lined his lips as he tried to speak to his beloved twin and even though he leaned over and listened closely, Elrohir could barely make out what he was saying.

"Go back to the others, brother. Please. Just leave me and go before the creature comes back to life and goes after you, for I fear he holds vengeance as close to his heart as do we and he will not soon forget that it was you that took his life."

With tears running freely down his cheeks, Elrohir vehemently shook his head.

"No, Elladan." He choked out. "There is no way that I am leaving you and even _if_ I knew my way home, I wouldn't leave you. You are my brother ... the other half of my spirit and there is no force that can take me from your side – I can't, I won't leave you."

Elladan reached up to his brother's face with a shaking hand and let his fingers slowly trail down his cheeks.

"Elrohir ... I am dying ... but I would never ... rest ... could never rest ... if I knew that you had not saved yourself. Go, my brother, and live in my name." His words trailed off into silence, for he used the last of his energy to speak.

Ever so tenderly, Elrohir leaned over and kissed his twin on the forehead.

"I am not leaving you, Elladan. I will lay myself down beside you and stay with you forever, for I still remember the promise we made to each other long ago."

Elladan's breathing was becoming shallower and Elrohir knew that he did not have much time left.

"We promised each other that when the time came for us to leave Middle-earth that we would go together whether it be to the Halls of Mandos or to Valinor itself. A promise made _must_ be a promise kept."

Elrohir looked down into his twin's face and noticed that he was staring at something to one side of them.

"What do you see, brother?"

"It is gone."

Elrohir looked and saw that indeed, the shapeshifter was no longer laying where he had fallen just a short time before. A thought began niggling at the back of his mind. His head snapped up and he looked closely at the clouds that were floating over their heads at many times the normal speed they should have been traveling. Then he looked at the forest and once more saw the bushes moving this way and that by a strong wind that could not be heard and at the dirt, dead leaves and other debris that stung both skin and eyes. However, it was when he once more looked at the trees of the forest that the little thought playing around in the back of his mind finally burst forth in all its glory – the needles on the pine trees of the forest were black.

After gently laying Elladan's head onto the ground, he jumped to his feet then raising clenched fists over his head he spun around, laughing crazily all the while.

"None of this is real!" He yelled to nobody in particular. "I know what you were trying to do. You were trying to get me to break my bond and leave my brother. Well it didn't work – you failed!"

Then, as if time had been listening and had heard his words, it adjusted itself.

Elrohir stopped his spinning and looked around, noticing that he and his twin were back in the exact spot where they had first encountered the shapeshifter. He looked at the sword he held in his hand, lifted it to his lips and kissed it fondly, then turned to Elladan who was still lying on the ground, sword in hand, and looking around him in confusion. Elrohir raised and eyebrow then extended his hand.

"Are you going to lay there for the rest of your immortal life or are you going to get up and join me in a hunt?"

Elladan took his brother's hand and leapt nimbly to his feet, his own eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Aye, brother. I will gladly join you, for we have a wolfman to find." He clapped his brother on the back. "Let's do this thing."

With a nod of agreement to each other and with their twin bond still intact, the two turned and ran into the forest.

8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

It was not fear that Elrond felt in his chest as he walked quietly down the steps into the basement of his home. There was apprehension, yes, but there was also a driving need to see this thing done and his family safe and secure once more. Holding his sword securely in front of himself, he slowly descended into the darkness, looking all around him at the ceiling, walls and all the shadows these places held.

He saw no rodents anywhere in the basement, neither of the winged type nor of the four legged variety. That was going to change however, for when he stopped down off the bottom step and raised his eyes he saw a dark haired man standing not more than 20 feet away. The man was just standing there, staring the approaching elf Lord, neither speaking nor fleeing, and in turn, Elrond met, and then held the thing's gaze. He suddenly found his mind wandering and wondering if this creature who resembled a human so closely could actually be of the same species as Thuringwethil of his own Middle-earth. His mind drifted more and Elrond found his eyes getting heavier as more time went by.

Elrond had only closed his eyes for a second, then realizing what he had done, shook his head to dispel the fuzziness that had crept in during his moment of inattention. When he was once more alert, he opened his eyes – and gasped, for the creature was gone and before him stood the most beautiful, blonde elf woman he had ever seen.

"Celebrian." He whispered.

She just smiled at her husband for a moment.

"Hello, my love. How have you been?"

For the first time in millennia, he found himself unable to speak as he stood there looking at the vision of loveliness standing before him.

"Celebrian, I ..."

Celebrian hushed her husband by holding up one graceful hand, something he remembered her doing often before she had sailed into the West.

"I don't have much time, husband, before the creature returns and I must take advantage of the moment and speak with you."

She looked around her then gasped, a look of terror on her face and in her eyes and when Elrond looked around him, he saw that he now stood, not in the basement of his own home, but on the top of the stone wall of a mighty fortress. A spell of vertigo hit him and for a moment he swayed, but after the moment had passed, he raised his eyes and looked at the vision that was his own dear wife.

"Elrond, you must leave, for the creature will be returning soon and I could not bear to see him harm either you or Estel."

Elrond felt tears come to his eyes.

"I cannot leave, my love, for I must kill this creature and send it back to its accursed home."

The vision frowned delicately.

"You would not leave, even if it meant your beloved son's life?"

Elrond continued to stare at the figure in front of him, knowing full well that the vision's words were not true and were only meant to bring to life a measure of uncertainty in his heart.

"Though I wish with all my heart that you were indeed my beloved wife standing before me, I know that you are no more than the desire of my heart brought to stand before me by a creature not of this world. You speak pleasant words, but you have neither the gentleness nor the serenity that was so great a part of my wife. You ... are ... not ... real!"

The vision looked at him, no longer smiling.

"You wound me, husband. Look around you. Do you not feel the gentle breeze upon your face as well as the sun warming the chill of the morning air - is what you feel not real to you?"

Though he did feel these things and his senses were somewhat confused by what his eyes told him was real, he knew that where he was and what he was seeing was not. And no matter how much he desired to welcome the new sunrise with his beloved Celebrian by his side, he could not, for the vision before him was not her – she was not real. He raised tear filled eyes to hers and in turn she grinned a lop-sided grin and shrugged her shoulders in an extremely unfeminine fashion. Suddenly something flew over his head, the wind of its passing knocking him to his knees and driving his breath from his body.

When he could again breathe easily, he looked up and saw his worst nightmare had come true for the "thing" standing before him now bore a resemblance to both man and bat although even that was too tidy a term to apply to it. Its convoluted features folded in upon each other, the flat snout of a bat, the eyes of a man, a mouth that was a combination of each species and skin that resembled nothing he had seen before. How cruel was the being's creator that he should have punished the being standing before him by giving it features that belonged neither to one species nor another.

But the horror did not belong to just the creature. Elrond's heart skipped a beat then beat madly, for the winged creature standing before him held Aragorn in its taloned hands.

"Ada, leave ... please ... before he kills me." A tear escaped the young man's eye and traced its way down his cheek. Seeing his father hesitate, he grew more adamant. "If you don't leave me, this thing will take my life while you watch and are powerless to stop him then will leave nothing behind but a shell that holds inside of it an evil older than the stars in the sky. Don't make him do this, Ada. Leave me now for I couldn't bear to see you killed nor have you watch me lose my life."

Though Elrond's love bade him fight to the death for his youngest son, another part of him tried to get him to turn around and leave. Then his logical mind kicked in and he realized that even if it was really Estel, that the creature would kill him, whether he stayed or not. On the other hand, he argued with himself, if the vision of Celebrian hadn't been real then the chances were great that this also was only a vision of his youngest son, sent to get him to turn his back and walk away.

He had let his love for his youngest blind him to the reality of the here and now. He momentarily closed his eyes and sent his fëa outward until it touched the Aragorn vision and when it did, he saw only a void, and realized that he had been lied to again. The reality had been in the perception, in his ability to see the truth that lay beneath what was not real. He smiled at the creature, for it had been unfamiliar with the elven fëa and in its ignorance had, for the moment, been overcome.

Realizing that its attempt to get the elf to leave had twice been unsuccessful, the bat creature released the vision of Aragorn and after it had disappeared, fully unfolded its wings and screamed out its frustration and anger. Then while glaring at the elf in front of it, advanced on him, fully prepared to battle to the death.

But Elrond had not survived over the millennia because he faced danger that he knew he could not defeat. He recognized that the creature before him held the advantage for they were on top of a great stone wall where the bat could use his great wings to his advantage. Elrond knew he didn't stand a chance at a fight where he was now standing and looked over the side of the wall at the ground that lay far below him then back at the "thing" coming at him. Sending his love to his children and praying to the Valar to protect them all, he stepped over the side of the wall and soon disappeared from sight.

8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

Gandalf looked back at the others as they exited the infirmary and mentally wished them well, for his heart told him that this adventure would be a great challenge and would truly test their character and inner strength. Suddenly he noticed that everything had gone quiet and when he turned, now saw that he was the only person in the Common Room, for the others had disappeared.

"Hmm." The small sound and a shake of his head were the only signs that the unusual situation had bothered him at all.

He had already given the room a look and had found it empty, but he was not an Istar Wizard for nothing for his finely trained and developed instincts suddenly tapped him on the shoulder and demanded that he take another look around him. He was doing just that when the light sound of metal on metal caught his attention and looking into the far shadowed corner of the room, he saw the one he had been seeking, the skinny man, casually leaning up against the wall and playing with a handful of knives.

Gandalf stayed where he was for a moment as he tried to think of how to proceed with this being. It would not be a casual encounter, of that he could be certain, for the human standing before him held some power, some type of magic of his own for he had used it many times before when he had hunted down, terrorized then killed his victims.

As he was thinking of these things, he saw a blur of movement, then got a brief glimpse of a hand and arm just before his staff was knocked out of his hands. As the hand was drawn back, there was the briefest of movements, a flick of the wrist, and a small cut appeared on his cheek. Slowly Gandalf reached up and felt the drops of blood oozing from the small cut. He looked at the man who was standing on the far side of the room and who was now garishly smiling at him from his horribly scarred face. Gandalf nodded.

"First blood goes to you." He said quietly.

He barely had time to set his feet before both of the man's hands and arms came at him again, clutching at his robes and trying to get a good grip on the wizard so he could draw him nearer. Twisting his body, the wizard managed to avoid the hands then seizing upon a momentary pause, stepped on both wrists. A look of both shock and pain crossed the man's face and with a sudden jerk, upended Gandalf, whose feet flew up into the air just before he landed flat on his back on the hard floor, where he lay for a moment, trying to catch his breath.

"Not bad for an old man." The human said. "Let's see what else you can do."

The two had been properly matched when Lord Elrond had been "assigning" creatures to everyone, for it was quite apparent that the human had a fair command of magic. Both of the man's hands, still elongated and stretching across a fair part of the room, now turned into clubs which tried their best to beat the wizard into unconsciousness.

Gandalf rolled this way and that as he tried to avoid being beat to death and if he would have had a spare moment, he probably would have laughed at the thought of room sized arms with clubs attached to the ends instead of hands. Such were the tales of an imaginative mind but considering this man came from some place not of their world or time, imagination could not be considered, nor could he be expected to conform to the rules of Middle-earth reality.

There was only one time that Gandalf had been close enough to try and grasp his staff, but the opportunity passed him by as he rolled away in another direction as a club barely missed coming in contact with his head. The man's arms went back to their normal size then began picking up chairs, tables, vases and anything else that was movable and started to throw them. The skinny man's actions were extremely bizarre and Gandalf realized that the human was probably cautious of closing with him and more than likely knew that his greatest danger would come from the wizard's magic.

Then as if he had fallen asleep and awoke in another place, Gandalf saw that his surroundings had changed and he was no longer in the Common Room but in a large, strange looking building. Though there were many levels in the building, Gandalf could see no stairs, ropes or any other device by which any of the other levels could be reached – nor could he even see the ground level floor when he looked over the railing.

"But I am still one of the Istari, with or without my staff." He muttered. "Now let's see what else _you_ can do."

Muttering the words to one of his favorite spells, Gandalf found himself on one of the other levels, not the one he wanted, but another level nonetheless. It was evident that wherever he was at the moment was in some way interfering with his magic. He made a mental note to himself not to underestimate this strange human, especially if his power included changing his surroundings at a whim.

No sooner had that particular thought echoed through his mind than the wall next to where he was standing started to bulge outward in the shape of the skinny man. Then Gandalf, the wisest of the Istari Wizards on Middle-earth, drew back his arm, drove his fist into the emerging face then turned and ran – fast.

When he approached the corner of the wall at the end of the walkway, he came to a stop then cautiously peeked around the corner and saw that the skinny man was nowhere in sight. Ever so slowly Gandalf walked down the runway to the next corner. He sensed that the skinny man was near and although he didn't know at that particular moment just how he was going to subdue him and drag him to Lament's doorway, he did know that learning what he could and could not do was going to be an interesting experience.

As he stood at the corner, carefully listening for any indication that his opponent was about, Gandalf could hear the human breathing lightly just around the corner from where he was standing. It appeared in the case of the skinny man, and Gandalf was hoping it would be the same for the beings the others would be engaging, that they were unfamiliar with the peculiarities of the beings of Middle-earth, and it might be that fact that would be their undoing in the end. To put it in a nutshell, their ignorance would mean their end. Moving with the swiftness of the Maiar, Gandalf stepped around the corner and wrapped his arms around the skinny man's chest.

At any other time and under any other circumstances, the situation might have been humorous and indeed, Gandalf did almost get a chuckle out of it. It may have been somewhat funny, until he reminded himself that funny or not, the struggling being he held in his arms had brutally murdered men, women and many young ones in horrible ways and had enjoyed doing it. The skinny man screamed in fright then suddenly changed into a snake, dropped from the arms of the grey wizard then slithered away. Gandalf watched as the snake, wearing a small version of the skinny man's face, disappeared around the next corner, then raising an eyebrow, he shook his head.

"And here I thought I had seen just about everything."

Gandalf walked along the level's walkway, peering down different hallways and over the side of the railing to the depths below, trying to find where the human had gone. If his surroundings had not changed, if the bizarre building was still a part of the reality he was in, then the probability was high that the skinny man was nearby. He was starting to realize something that was very important as well as pertinent to the present situation – there was great power at work here. But even though the skinny man had power over his environment and over his body, as he had shown, Gandalf realized that he had a more powerful kind of magic, a more powerful "power." His power came from defending a righteous cause, which was the defense of a home and the innocents that lived there.

Here he was, so far above the ground floor that he could barely see it and he was stuck playing tag with an elusive and devious minded murderer. They could chase each other for the rest of their immortal lives and nothing would be accomplished and Gandalf knew that the time had come for him to shake things up a bit. He looked over the side of the railing to the drop-off below.

"What's the worst thing that could happen – I could die?"

With a shake of his head and after taking a deep breath, he grabbed the railing and jumped over the side.

8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

Aragorn and Legolas were creeping down the long hallway on the level that held the family's sleeping quarters. All that the two of them knew for sure about their target was that the man they were looking for was dark skinned and was missing one of his hands. The fact that the man had apparently come back from the dead didn't disturb them as much as the fact that he had become well known for the particularly nasty looking hook that he wore on the stub of his arm.

Using the stealth of both Ranger and elf, the two were soundless in their movements, signaling to each other through the use of hand signs as they crept from room to room looking for their target. They saw no sign of the man at all until they came to the large communal bathing room. The room, which had not been used since the present nightmare had begun, was currently filled with steam, an oddity that prevented the two from seeing into the large room and the danger it may contain. There would be no way that either of them could be sure nobody was in there unless they went inside and looked around.

Aragorn got Legolas' attention and held up three fingers, meaning that on the count of three they would both enter the room. After the count and once the two had stepped inside the room, they paused and did their best to see through the steam into the corners beyond but even with his sharp elvish vision, Legolas couldn't tell for certain if anyone was in there or not.

Keeping the walls at their back, the two quietly crept along the perimeter of the room, swords in their hands, ready for anything. Legolas leaned in close to his friend's ear.

"He's in here – I can sense him."

Aragorn nodded.

They had not gone much further when the two came upon a large mirror and after looking at it closely, Legolas pointed to something that had been traced in the mist covering the glass. The words were neither Tengwar nor Common nor any other language they were familiar with but they both came to the conclusion that it was the same word written five times.

"Now why would someone write this word on this mirror five times?" Aragorn said as he lightly traced the letters with his finger. "I wish I knew what it said for perhaps it is a clue that we could use to subdue this man and take him back to Lament."

Legolas just shrugged his shoulders.

"I have no idea why this should be so, but I do know that we should continue our search and get this done for I much desire to leave this room."

The two turned away from the mirror then froze, for an extremely tall dark skinned man was standing directly behind them. He looked at the two for a moment, and then spoke in a sarcastic tone of voice.

"You traced it – five times – close enough."

Grabbing Aragorn's shoulder with one hand, the man drove the hook that he wore deep into the young man's stomach then jerked it upwards until he finally pulled the thing out at chest level. He had made one serious mistake when he had attacked Aragorn, however, for as he watched the man go to his knees, holding onto his stomach with two hands that were trying to stop the heavy flow of blood, he had taken his eyes off Legolas. The only thing the dark skinned man saw was a flash of movement then a heavy metal planter hit him in the side of the head and knocked him to the ground. He rolled away from the two then quickly disappeared into the concealing mist.

While keeping part of his attention on the room so that they would not be surprised again, Legolas dropped to his knees beside his friend.

"No. No. No." He repeated over and over.

There was an ever widening pool of blood spreading under Aragorn's unconscious body and seeing that, and fearing what he would find, or in this case not find, he place his trembling fingers underneath the jaw and felt for a pulse. He frowned, for the pulse was strong and steady, giving no indication that anything at all had happened. Legolas reached out and dipped his fingers in the pool of blood then brought his fingers to his nose, finding that it was indeed blood. Aragorn moaned then reached out with a searching hand until Legolas took it with his own. Carefully he turned Aragorn over then frowned once more at what he saw – or in this case, didn't see.

There was no wound, no gash running from his stomach to his chest, absolutely nothing that could explain where the blood had even come from. Legolas patted the man's cheeks.

"Estel, open your eyes." There was no response and so Legolas tried once again. "Estel, wake up. You are fine – there is no wound."

Slowly the young man's eyes came open then looked at his friend.

"If there is no wound then what happened?" He asked softly, the look of shock and fear still much too evident in his eyes.

"You fainted."

"Men don't faint." He said sarcastically as he allowed Legolas to help him sit up.

"It was merely a realistic vision, my friend, nothing more."

Aragorn leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes for a moment.

"But it felt so real, Legolas. I felt the hook and the pain and the blood pouring out of my body ... I don't understand."

Legolas laid a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder.

"I don't understand it either, Estel. Perhaps Lament is not all the way inside this world yet. Maybe when it is then such an event _will_ be real. All that I can tell you with any certainty is that you are not injured and we must both be as vigilant as we can possibly be."

All of a sudden, Aragorn's grew wide in alarm and all Legolas heard before everything went black were two words.

"Behind you."

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When Rahan and Súrion suddenly found themselves alone, they were not surprised but when they suddenly found themselves standing on a short wooden bridge that extended part way into a large body of water, they _were_ surprised. Both Guards went to one knee, effectively making themselves into smaller targets, as they quickly assessed their new surroundings. Though they both spoke in the barest of whispers, they were still close enough to be able to hear each other easily.

"He's here, although I cannot see or hear him."

"Aye, Rahan. I think since we can assume he will be actively stalking us, we can rule out that small dwelling in back of us just as we can rule out the area in front of us – unless he is hiding in the water."

Rahan raised an eyebrow at the Silvan Guard who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, it was just a thought."

"Keep your head in the game, Lieutenant." He said seriously.

After the two had spent some time observing the area around them, they rose to their feet and walked toward the surrounding timber to begin their active search but had not gotten far when they saw the big man walking purposefully in their direction. His steps were not quiet, nor were they particularly stealthy but one thing both elves could tell with certainty was that the man had murder on his mind.

"Stay out of my way."

With a nod, Súrion stepped back for he might not have agreed with his Captain's decision to engage the human by himself, but he had given an order – and that order he would follow. That did not mean, however, that he couldn't be near in case Rahan needed or called for assistance later.

Rahan ducked as the human swung his short sword and heard the thing whistle over his head missing taking his head off by no more than a few, scant inches. If the blow had landed anywhere on his body, he was positive that it would have killed him instantly. The Captain rose from his crouched position and at the same time and with a yell that focused his energy, he drove a fist into the man's stomach, lifting him off his feet and driving him backwards. The man didn't go to the ground and when Rahan moved forward for another strike the man swung again but this time when Rahan ducked under the sword, the human raised a knee and drove it into the big elf's forehead, driving him back and stunning him.

The fight was brutal, with both large beings punishing each other with vicious blows from elbows, fists and forearms that would have killed smaller and weaker opponents. The two fought all along the edge of the lake, tearing up the ground, both bleeding from numerous wounds given and received. Although the large man was slower now than he had been at the beginning of the fight, he still had not gone to the ground and though that fact puzzled Rahan, it only increased his determination.

Then the large man landed a lucky blow and caught Rahan on the side of the head with the hilt of his sword and knocked him to the ground. Stunned, the elf was slow getting to his feet and taking advantage of the situation, the large man started swinging his sword in large arcs, driving Rahan back along the short bridge, toward the water until finally, after sinking his sword deep into the elf's side, he kicked him off his sword and into the water.

The large man had forgotten something important, however, something that would prove to be his undoing, for as he stood and watched the elf's body sink out of sight beneath the water, he forgot that there had been two elves. He was made painfully aware of his error when Súrion drove his shoulder into the large man's back after which the human, unable to catch his balance, fell face first into the lake – and this time he did not rise.

Without another thought, Súrion dived into the water where he had last seen Rahan and after a quick search, was able to find his Captain and bring him to the surface. After getting him out of the water, he put both hands under his arms and pulled him a little farther up the bank then laid him flat on his back. Súrion's heart skipped a beat when he checked for a pulse and found nothing. Rahan's normally dark complexion was taking on a bluish hue and Súrion knew that he had to get him breathing again, quickly, for his Captain – and friend – had drowned.

While keeping part of his attention on his surroundings, he spent the next few extremely tense minutes breathing for his Captain then compressing his chest to try and restart his heart. Finally, when the big elf started retching up the water he had inhaled as well as swallowed, Súrion quickly turned him onto his side, where he vomited up the last of the lake water then lay panting as Súrion gently rubbed his back.

Finally, he turned Rahan onto his back again, and as the elf lay with closed eyes, trying to catch his breath, Súrion looked at the wound in his side. Though it was deep, it was not life threatening, and after taking a small vial out of a pouch he carried around his waist, the Silvan Guard liberally sprinkled a powder over the wound and within a few short moments it had quit bleeding.

He was just closing the pouch after replacing the vial when one of Rahan's big arms knocked him sideways into some nearby bushes. He was so concerned with quickly extricating himself from the bushes that he missed the fact that a short sword landed where not long before he had been kneeling.

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King Thranduil, Glorfindel, Ethan, Saeros and Semoro had just entered Lord Elrond's Hall when they noticed that the voices of their friends had disappeared and when the group of elves and human looked out into the Common Room, saw nobody around. Where they would normally have been concerned at the sudden disappearance, this time they were not, for so many strange things had been seen and heard this night that nothing surprised them as it probably would not for a very long time – a long time being the sum total of the next few seconds, that is. As the group turned back to the hall, they froze. Coming at them out of the shadows of the Hall poured a large number of the short, thin, faceless creatures. It could now be said with certainty that the Shadow Horde had been found.

TBC


	8. Defeat the Enemy

_So when the world is asleep,  
and there seems no hope of her waking  
Out of some long, bad dream  
that makes her mutter and moan,  
suddenly, all men arise  
to the noise of fetters breaking,  
And every one smiles at his neighbor  
and tells him his soul is his own!  
Rudyard Kipling_

Chapter 8

Defeat the Enemy

The two elves ran, their long, easy strides carrying them onward, having already eaten up many leagues and seeming almost eager to run the leagues yet to come – however many there were. For days now, with a perseverance that only an elf would know and understand, Elladan and Elrohir, the twin sons of Lord Elrond of Imladris, had pursued their quarry. Though they would occasionally stop for a well-earned rest, they always quickly resumed the chase for they were eager to put an end to this macabre game they had been forced to play.

The wolfman knew that he was being hunted and was fleeing, for he did not understand the two that now pursued him for both had faced him with a grim determination that was uncommon for beings who had looked into eyes that could never die. Though he had tasted of elf flesh and had sipped on the sweet life's blood of one of the pursuing elves, the being had neither died nor had he slunk away, quivering in fear at having fallen to one such as he, even if what had occurred was no more than a thought or memory.

The lighting grew dimmer as what usually passed for nightfall approached. The twins had no intention of stopping and though they knew and fully understood that the wolfman would hold the advantage in the darkness, they were elves after all, and would eagerly meet the creature, darkness or not.

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His face showed no emotion whatsoever as he watched both the pursuers and the pursued. Pain and ecstasy were his bread and meat, and it was his great talent for inflicting horrible pain on others then experiencing the ecstasy that followed that had sustained him for longer than anyone could even imagine. He had, so far on this night, been denied his pleasure and was not at all pleased about that fact.

Below where Once-human stood as nothing more than a silent shadow, the wolfman had just entered a thick stand of trees. He straightened and became more alert, for the two males that were pursuing the beast seemed to be unaware that their quarry was no longer running from them but was on a course that would intercept them. This might prove interesting, especially if the two males were to encounter something that would hinder them even more and would distract them and turn their attention in another direction.

He looked up and immediately the clouds darkened, the sky was split by great bolts of lightning and peals of thunder shook the landscape around them, offending the sensitive hearing of the elves and wolfman alike. The twins were effectively blinded and deafened by this new hindrance and gave up the advantage to their quarry. A small half-smile came to Once-human's face.

_Elliot!_

Once-human's attention was immediately drawn back to his environment and he quickly looked to his left then his right but saw nobody around him. Frowning and thinking that perhaps this bizarre environment was influencing his own perceptions, he decided to ignore what had just happened and so turned his attention back to the wolfman and the two elves.

All three had stopped running. The wolfman sat on his hindquarters, his nose pointed to the sky as he tried to determine why the strange storm had not yet broken upon him and his pursuers. Elladan and Elrohir kept part of their attention on their immediate surroundings and part of their attention on the weather as they too tried to determine whether the storm was serious about happening or not. The brothers looked at each other then after shaking their heads, continued the hunt. Soundlessly, and easily, they ran and unknown to them, they were quickly closing with the wolfman.

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Once-human again looked upwards and this time he managed to loose the sky, having it send torrents of rain down upon the three adversaries. They would meet each other within moments and if he would have yet possessed the ability to feel, he would have almost been excited.

_Elliot! What do **you** fear, Elliot?_

Though over the years he had lost the ability to feel warmth or life and was fueled only by emptiness and numbness, he still felt a measure of uneasiness as a voice that belonged to nobody, whispered in his ear, and played his own strange game with him. Again, when he looked around, he saw and sensed nobody and knew that he was alone except for the three beings below the bluff where he stood.

There were other beings that would provide him with better entertainment and though he did not fear the ethereal voice, it was his decision to go someplace the voice was not, and after so deciding, he then turned and disappeared into thin air.

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The wolfman ignored the fact that the rain had stopped just as quickly and as mysteriously as it had begun as he continued to double back on his trail in an attempt to gain the advantage on the two who were pursuing.

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Elladan knelt on one side of the footprints, his hand hovering just a breath above it and as Elrohir kept careful watch for danger, Elladan felt for heat that would tell when the footprint had been placed there as well as any other …

His eyes opened in surprised and he reached up and tapped his twin on the arm. When Elrohir looked at him, he made the hand sign to his brother that told him their quarry was doubling back on his trail and was now coming right at them. The two elves quickly put themselves in concealment, slowed their racing hearts and breathing and dampened their glows – then waited.

It wasn't long until they heard a light snuffling as the beast tested the breeze for scent then slowly slunk into the open. A twig snapping ahead and to his right, brought a gleam to his eyes for that could only mean the two males he sought were close by and were trying to conceal themselves.

Suddenly Elrohir broke out of the stand of trees and took off running. Misfortune struck quickly, however, as he stepped into a small hole in the path and fell, rolling and holding his ankle while grimacing in pain. The wolfman slowed as he approached the injured being who took his dagger from his boot then held it in front to defend himself as he scooted backwards on the ground.

Ever closer the wolfman came, saliva dripping from his mouth in anticipation of the coming feast. Then he felt hands grab his jaw and jerk his head upwards as another hand drug the sharp blade of a dagger underneath and from ear to ear. Soon he could do nothing more than choke soundlessly as his blood flowed from both the wound and his mouth and not long after that his sight dimmed then disappeared altogether.

"It took you long enough, brother." Elrohir said as he nimbly leapt to his feet.

"To use one of my favorite phrases, Elrohir, 'you know how I like to make an entrance.'"

The two laughed quietly as Elladan cleaned his knife off on the wolfman's hide. He then looked at the sky.

"Lament? A little help would be appreciated here."

The two brothers sighed in relief when they once more found themselves in their home, standing at the top of the stairs that lead to their living quarters. Later, the two brothers would remark that neither of them felt remorse as the body of the wolfman disappeared from view as it was taken "home."

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Elrond had taken a leap of faith in the most literal sense of the phrase. He had faith that he was still, in some way, in the basement of his home and that when he leapt off the top of the massive stone wall, that he would again find himself back in the basement. Yes and no. Yes, he was probably still in the basement of his home, but no, the rose bushes he landed in when he finally hit the ground, were not part of his basement.

After extricating himself from the bushes, he looked around. The fortress was gone, but he now found himself on one of the paths in his own gardens.

_Interesting._ He thought to himself.

He knelt on the ground on one knee as he looked around him at the landscape. He saw his home – or what should have been his home. It was no more than a blackened silhouette sitting a pace off from where he knelt. He could see no light from inside the dwelling, no sign that any life at all existed within the walls of the Last Homely House of Elrond of Imladris.

There was the sound of wings and Elrond caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eye. Without looking like he was turning to look, he twisted his body slightly to one side, making a show of straightening his tunic and he looked deep into the surrounding shadows. Though he did not see the creature, he could feel its presence.

"Ada!" The voice was quiet and full of fear and sadness.

Elrond whirled around fully and saw Aragorn staggering in his direction. Quickly walking to the young man, he put his arm around his shoulder then walked him to a nearby bench. Checking his youngest for injuries, he saw two puncture wounds on his neck that still oozed blood. Aragorn was beginning to tremble as he leaned his much too pale face on his father's strong shoulder. Elrond caressed his head.

"I am so sorry, Estel, for I did not mean for this to happen."

Aragorn gave a small, weak smile.

"I know."

He patted his father's arm.

"I don't want to turn into a creature like him, Ada. Do what you must, but don't let me walk this life doing to others what he has done to me. Please – I am begging you – grant me mercy."

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The anguish was plain to see on the elf Lord's face and it was witnessing that anguish that almost seemed to warm Once-human's body. He leaned a little closer from his place of concealment as he breathed deeply of the elf's fear, concern and memories of love.

_Perception is never lost!_

He heard the voice just before something shoved him and made him take a startled step forward. He heard a giggle and froze, for the voice that had laughed was familiar to him. Carefully he looked around him but saw no sign of the female and that fact made him frown. How could the female be here … but yet not? Was she able to travel through worlds as easily as he who stepped between worlds like some would step across the threshold of a room?

_Go away, Elliot!_

Though he was incapable of feeling fear, as such, Once-human decided that one more time he would retreat, for there were others to whom he could give his attention - _she_ could not save them all.

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For a moment, Elrond had felt a familiar presence, and then it had been gone. He kept this knowledge to himself as he sat holding his dying son in his arms. He took a deep breath.

"Estel, you know that I love you, do you not?"

Weakly, Aragorn nodded his head.

"Yes, Ada, I do."

"Then you know that I would do anything to save my son."

Aragorn hesitated a moment, for his father's words were confusing him but after a moment he again nodded. He raised his head and looked at the elf sitting beside him, his eyes widening as he saw the dagger coming at him. There was a fierce, body consuming pain as the dagger was sunk deep into his chest until it finally came to rest in his heart.

"Ada. What have you done?"

One last effort to gain his father's sympathy – one last futile effort – before the thing fell to the ground, writhing in its agony.

Elrond took a few steps backward as the bat creature lost the shape it had assumed and turned back into the man it had one time been. Then with a scream that seemed to come from the throat of a man yet so high as to be almost out of the range of hearing, that was the voice of a bat, it writhed on the ground, wings appearing and disappearing, ears lengthening then shrinking, sharp incisors growing then turning back to what could almost pass as human.

Finally, after a time, the shape settled into that of a man, that glared at him as his hands weakly pulled at the dagger still protruding from his chest. Elrond walked to where the man lay and sat on his heels and smiled.

"I love all my children more than the air that I breathe." He began as he brushed a strand of hair of the thing's forehead. "But love knows love which is apparently a lesson you did not learn the first time we met for once more I touched the vision of my youngest son and saw only a void."

In a sudden move that surprised even the creature, Elrond grasped the hilt of his dagger and shoved it the rest of the way into the creature's chest. After the light of the thing's life had died away and its eyes had closed, Elrond smiled.

"And you are not my son."

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After Gandalf had grabbed the railing of the level he had been on and had jumped over the side into the abyss below, he had no idea what would happen. Being of the race of the Maiar, he had seen things that no other race other than the divine would ever see. But what he had experienced over the course of the past few hours, he was sure that other than his own Lord, Eru Ilúvatar, nobody had ever seen or had knowledge of.

When his feet finally touched what could pass for the ground, he found that he was upside down, just as it appeared everything else in this reality was. He heard the skinny man giggle maniacally and when he turned saw the insane human running up a ramp. The old wizard shook his head, for as he had thought before, he and the human could chase each other for all of eternity and nothing would ever be accomplished.

Then he got an idea. He ran in the opposite direction that the skinny man was running in and when the human turned and looked over his shoulder, he saw Gandalf disappearing into the distance. He frowned.

"What are you up to old man? Well, I have a trick or to of my own that I haven't tried."

He held up his right hand in which he carried his little knives.

"These are just for you!"

As he turned back around, he screamed, for the wizard was standing right behind him. Now give him credit where credit was due. He had not outrun and eluded pursuers and others that had hunted him by freezing in one spot, fainting like a female or standing his ground, especially if that ground had something standing on it that would prove dangerous to him - now being one of those times.

Screaming like a little girl, the skinny man turned to flee – and fell flat on his face. Looking down, he saw that both of his shoes were now tied together.

"This is my world, old man!" He yelled out – to nobody.

The wizard was gone and when he looked back down at his shoes saw that they were no longer attached to each other. Picking himself up, he chased after the fleeing figure at the other end of the long walkway.

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There followed a time for these two, the wizard of Middle-earth and the "wizard" of the shadow world, when they dueled. Bolts of lighting that instantly solidified into long, sharp spears, attacks from around corners, small knives parried by conjured staffs. Though Gandalf had still been unable to come across his own great staff, the one he did produce served its purpose when the grey wizard needed to defend himself. Gandalf was proving himself to be an able warrior.

And yes, there was also the dark humor, for the skinny man had almost seemed childlike in the things that he did. Gandalf felt that at some point in his life, perhaps before he had turned into the wraith that he now was, that he had been fascinated with children and the simple world they lived in. How that had been perverted and just how or why it had turned into the bizarre creature he now fought would be food for thought at another time.

The skinny man had just attempted to come through a wall at Gandalf's side, knives slashing before he was even all the way through. In turn, Gandalf had shoved a large sausage deep into the human's throat and when the man had stopped to try and remove the large object that was blocking his ability to breathe; the grey wizard had placed a hand on either side of the man's head and with a sharp turn had neatly broken the man's neck.

Even as he looked down at the dead man, thinking how tragic his life had been, he suddenly, and once more, found himself inside Lord Elrond's home, standing at the top of the stairs. The doorway shimmered right in front of where he now stood and with a final sound of disgust; Gandalf threw the smallish man through it. It was over.

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Even though Legolas had been knocked unconscious, he had heard Aragorn's warning and had managed to roll his head away from where he sensed the blow was coming from. The hook, meant to penetrate his skull at the temple, just landed a glancing blow. As he tried the clear the dark fog from his mind, he started to hear the sounds of a struggle and when he finally opened his eyes then wiped the blood away so he could see clearly, he saw his friend attempting to drive the dark skinned man backwards.

When the man saw Legolas pushing himself to his knees, he shoved Aragorn away from him and disappeared into the mist that still concealed everything in the bathing room. For the moment he was gone.

Aragorn ran to his wounded friend's side and sat next to him on the floor, this time making sure that _both_ their backs were against the wall – and protected. He gently held his friend's head against his chest as he reached up and checked out the gash that had been torn near his temple. Tearing a strip of cloth off the bottom of his tunic, he folded it then applied a pressure bandage to Legolas' bleeding head wound.

"Is he gone, Estel?"

Aragorn peered into the mist but saw nothing although he still sensed that the man was there.

"Yes, Legolas, for now he is gone." He still held the dazed Prince against his shoulder. "Just rest for a bit and clear your head."

Legolas nodded his head and was silent for a few moments.

"Estel, you do know he isn't going to let us leave this room alive, don't you?"

"I know, Legolas. We have to end this … and soon."

"What is that sound?"

The two listened to what sounded like a loud buzzing that steadily grew louder and when they looked up saw a figure begin to emerge from the mist. He was back – and he was not alone. He held both hands slightly out from his body, at shoulder level and what Aragorn and Legolas had first thought was a deformity of both hook and hand soon proved to be something else – something much worse. Bees … hundreds and hundreds of bees.

The dark skinned man shook his hand and hook slightly then smiled as the insects left their temporary perch and flew to where the elf and human sat against the walls. Aragorn rose to his feet then tried to pull Legolas to his, but the Mirkwood Prince was still groggy from his wound and was too unsteady to stand on his own and when he sank back down to the floor, so did Aragorn.

"Estel … run! There is no reason for both of us to suffer this torment and maybe die from it."

The first bees landed on them and began to sting. They both cried out as more and more of the insects landed on them and began stinging them as well.

"I'm not leaving you, Legolas, so don't even suggest that I do."

He wrapped his arms as much around Legolas as he could, trying desperately to shield him from the bees that were stinging them both to death.

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Once-human stood in the reflection of the mirror, watching the agony of the two friends, a small, grim smile on his face. This was what his existence was for, to be a voyeur of torment, to experience bliss by watching the pain of others. He watched closely as the blonde elf twitched in reaction to the stinging bees then sighed in satisfaction as the dark haired human began to cry. Soon, both were almost entirely covered in the insects, brought from another place for the sole purpose of ending their lives.

_Elliot!_

Once-human spun around in a circle. He was beginning to lose any patience he might have had for this phenomena, however he knew there was little he could do about something he could neither touch, feel nor see.

_You fear what you cannot control, Elliot!_

Then something happened that he would never have thought possible. He felt the chill of death pass through his body, something uglier than himself or even uglier and more fearsome than "He" that lived in the heart of his home. The feeling brought back memories to him of other times and other places and his heart, the dark center of his own being, twitched in its own agony. Then the feeling was gone. He knew what it had been that had caused a pain that did not satisfy his lust for torment. It had been the light of goodness. _She_ had walked through him … and in the process had tainted him with her light. With a cry of frustration, he turned and fled.

_I think I need a bath!_

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There was a pulsing light – one beat of a heart – and the bees were gone. There was something different though, for as the bees faded away to memory, the dark skinned man found himself staring at a wall – a bare wall – the elf and the man were gone.

Then he gasped, for a hand and arm came around his neck from behind while a foot and leg wrapped around one of his. It was a combat hold that was meant to subdue whoever it was applied to and when applied properly, especially by a Ranger from the North, it held its victim immobile. Before the dark skinned man could even think of fighting back, the elf's arm came around his neck, while the other arm grabbed the hook and sank it into deep into the dark skinned man's own body.

His eyes opened in surprise and as the Ranger held him still, the elf levered the hook through his torso until it finally came to rest in the middle of his chest. As his vision dimmed, the arms confining him loosed their hold but before his knees could even touch the ground; his life had fled his body.

Legolas and Aragorn each grabbed an arm and drug the dark skinned man out of the bathing room and down the hall to where they could see the doorway shimmering. They threw his body through the doorway and then sighed with relief as the thing disappeared from sight.

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By the time Súrion had gotten himself out of the bushes Rahan had knocked him into and had turned around, he saw his Captain and the large man locked in combat. Knowing the human's short sword was lethal, Rahan had closed the distance between them and in effect had taken away the man's ability to use the weapon – he had no room to swing the sword when his adversary was up close and getting personal.

Finally, and for the first time since the battle had begun, the human dropped his sword. But though it appeared that the human had a personal relationship going with his weapon, and even though he was now without it, he was still capable of using his size as a weapon. Both elf and human battered each other with fist, elbows, forearms and when one of them was on the ground, with their feet as well.

There was one item that was in the human's favor, however, and which now began to slide the scale of fate in his direction – he was insane and without any emotion other than hate. He took Rahan down to the ground then kicked him viciously several times, causing the big elf to curl in on himself as he tried to escape the painful blows. The Captain knew he wouldn't last much longer … well, maybe.

Súrion was having troubles of his own for every time he tried to go to his Captain's aid, he kept finding himself back in the bushes, a fact that both puzzled him and irritated him. There was someone else influencing what was happening and it wasn't making him happy at all. He watched as the large human grabbed Rahan by the hair and drug him to his knees then held him still while he drove his knee into the elf's head stunning him.

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Of course he had to come to watch, for what would have been the point of providing such a special place for the two to fight in if he hadn't meant to stand in the shadows to watch the blood flow. Frustration and pain – such bliss … then the torment of the one who was finding it impossible to go to his friend's aid. He sighed in ecstasy, for this one event made all the other failures worth while. Once-human looked around himself, half-expecting to feel the cold brush of light and the soft voice that to him was the equivalent of a bucket of ice water being dumped over his head.

It felt odd to him that he should feel concern over someone who was getting pleasure from seeing him jump but after he had satisfied himself that he was alone and had turned back to watch the fight, he suddenly found himself sitting on the ground. He had felt the blow on the back of his knees but had been powerless to catch himself. Once-human immediately regained his feet and spun in a tight circle but again saw that he was alone. His temper, what there was left of it, had just about reached its limit.

_Go away, Elliot! Go back to your hole and don't return._

He tried to ignore the presence – the cold, ethereal breeze that chilled his black heart.

_Find your enemy._

Something caressed his cold cheek.

_Meet your enemy._

He felt a kiss on his temple.

_Defeat your enemy._

He felt as an invisible hand brushed itself lightly on what used to be an ear. He spun around angrily.

"You cannot save them all. Even now, the time approaches when my home and yours will occupy the same space at the same time and it will be then that you will be powerless to save those you care about."

He then turned smartly on his heel, faded into the darkness and disappeared.

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Súrion was almost desperate to reach Rahan, who was breathing heavily and almost seemed at the point of collapse. Suddenly, the phenomena that had kept him in the bushes disappeared and he was at last able to rush toward his Captain. He had not yet reached his side when the big man noticed his approach and turned his head in his direction.

"NOW, Rahan!" He yelled as he kept running at the big man and holding his attention.

The weakening elf, laying almost at the big human's feet suddenly came back to life and reaching to his boot, drew the dagger that he always carried there and rammed it with all his strength into the human's groin. It was the first time and probably the last time that the human would ever speak – if that was what you could call it. He roared – a mighty sound that echoed off the surrounding landscape as would have a peal of thunder. Then he slowly sank to his knees and fell forward onto his face.

Súrion extended his hand and helped his battered Captain to his feet.

"It took you long enough!" He chastised the Silvan elf but added a wink to take the sting out of his words.

In turn, Súrion reached out and wiped some dirt off Rahan's cheek.

"I aim to please, my Captain."

With a nod to each other, each elf grabbed an arm of the large human and began to drag him away.

8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

Greyfell was becoming more and more concerned about Anayah's condition. He knew in his heart that she had used her fëa to do more than bedevil Once-human as she had originally promised, and he could almost swear with certainty that she had found a way to interact with whatever had been going on. Her complexion was almost bone-white and her hair was now matted to her head with sweat. When he saw that she was almost panting as if from exertion, he knew the time had come to call her back. Reaching out with one hand, he gently brushed her cheek with the backs of his fingers.

Anayah gasped then her entire body stiffened. Greyfell rose to his feet, for in truth, he didn't know if she was going to have a seizure or if this was just part of the process she went through when her fëa returned to her body. He let out a sigh of relief when she relaxed and could almost have burst into song when her eyes slowly opened and she looked at him. It was apparent that she was exhausted and as he gently wiped the sweat off her face, he saw a tear make its way down her cheek.

"I am afraid I am too many, Greyfell. I cannot help anymore."

He caressed her head gently.

"Rest, child, for you have done all that you can. I am sure that it will have been enough."

He smiled as her eyes closed and she slipped into a more normal sleep then continued to watch her for a time until he felt his own eyes becoming heavy as the exertion of his day caught up with him. He laid a hand on Anayah's arm so that if she moved or woke he would know it then laid his own head down on his arms and went to sleep.

8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

There was controlled chaos in Elrond's Hall. The mighty Woodland King, Thranduil, son of Oropher, wielded his sword with all of the strength and skill he was so well known for while at his side, the legendary slayer of balrogs, Glorfindel, took down creature after creature. Saeros and Semoro, the Thurin Tirith, fought with all the strength and skill those of their order were so well known for. Between them, the human called Ethan, having quickly remembered what his friend, Glorfindel had taught him about the use of the sword, brought down his share of the smallish creatures.

Everything suddenly came to a stop and even the house seemed to be holding its breath. Then the ground shook, the lighting disappeared and from afar they could hear the sound of the voices of friends they hadn't seen for hours. When the lighting once more appeared, they found themselves in the same room as everyone else. But they were not alone, for every beast and creature that had been killed through sweat, blood and hard labor was there with them as well – and they were all alive and well.

They all knew without anyone even having to tell them that Lord Elrond's home and the world known as Lament were now fully occupying the same space and that while it did, any one of them could die – for real.

TBC


	9. Final Conflict

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"Man lives in the sunlit world of what he believes to be reality.  
But... there is, unseen by most, an underworld,  
a place that is just as real, but not as brightly lit...  
...a Darkside."  
Tales from the Darkside

* * *

Chapter 9

Final Conflict

The being known as Once-human stood and watched the conflict around him with great interest, an expression on his face bordering on ecstasy. The pain and despair being experienced by the elves and humans as they fought would be enough to feed his perverted spirit for some time. And so, he stood silently in the shadows and relished each blow and every drop of blood that was being spilled by those before him.

The elves and humans had thought that their nightmare was over and were relieved by that fact until they found themselves once more faced by the same creatures they had so diligently fought then sent home, and discovering otherwise had almost despaired. Once more the two shapeshifters, bat and wolf, the large man, the dark skinned man, the skinny man as well as the small creatures they had called the Shadow Horde, were now milling about the hall in confusion, and anyone with a weapon was engaging whoever or whatever being or creature happened to be closest to them.

It mattered not that a particular person was more suited to engage one particular creature than another. Each individual was being forced to fight whoever or whatever was in front of them – they had to or they knew they would die. Rahan and Súrion made a point of finding and fighting the large man, for in this particular instance, they knew that by virtue of his great size, he was the most dangerous of the beings from Lament and none of the inhabitants of the House of Elrond had any chance of surviving if they were forced to face him in battle.

Blood was being spilled, but as of yet, neither creature, elf nor human had received a fatal wound, a fact that was proving frustrating to all involved. With the possible exception of Ethan, who was still making a fair accounting of himself regardless of his inexperience, they were all seasoned warriors and they now used every skill they possessed to not only keep themselves alive but to go to the aid of anyone who was having problems with the creature they were facing.

Then the whole atmosphere in the room changed and without even having to look, everyone knew that someone or something with a powerful presence had entered upon the field of battle. Once-human's attention was drawn to the furthest entrance and to the shadow that now blocked the light of the room beyond it. The Shadow Being's entrance and presence could not be denied and as the evil being from Lament turned towards the newcomer, he studied it closely as it glided across the floor and soundlessly approached the place where he now stood. Whatever it was, whoever it was, was featureless, genderless and ageless and moved as if it were floating on air.

Closer it came and though it was seemingly a creature born of shadows, it began to emit a light that expanded and grew in intensity until every combatant in the room was bathed in its golden light. Once-human stepped back and shaded his own eyes with his hand as he watched as the Shadow Being slowly and with great care, lifted the veil of deception with a light that was like a gentle but firm pair of hands, leaving behind that act, a true reality that could once again be seen by the others. The elves and humans drew back, aghast at what they found they had been doing, for in front of them and at the end of their blades were not the creatures they thought they had been fighting to the death, but their own kin and friends. Swords suddenly dropped from nerveless fingers and hands as everyone realized they had just been trying to kill the ones they loved the most.

Thranduil was horrified to find that his dagger was poised at the throat of his beloved son just as Elladan had to step back from Elrohir and Elrond from Aragorn. Nobody had been left out of Once-human's dark game and the Thurin Tirith, Glorfindel, Gandalf and even Ethan found themselves stepping back, their hands bloodied with the gore of battle as it would have been bathed in the blood of friend and kin if not for the timely intervention. In truth, everyone suddenly realized that in the end, it was their family and friends that had been the illusion and the illusion had been their family and friends.

Slowly the rest of the elves and humans got to their feet, with those who could, helping the more severely wounded to theirs. Then all of them, creatures included, backed up against a far wall to watch the confrontation between the mysterious Shadow Being, their champion, and Once-human.

8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

The Shadow Being moved silently, almost floating, until it was directly in front of Once-Human then stood there without moving or speaking, each taking the measure of the other. Finally, it spoke, although when it did, none of those listening could guess its identity or gender from its voice.

"It is time for you to leave, Once-human."

Though the Shadow Being spoke quietly, in a voice that echoed like an empty cavern, it could still be plainly heard by all.

"I think not." Was the emotionless reply.

There was a momentary silence and the Shadow pulsed once before it spoke again.

"It was you who chose to open the doorway and unleash the power of your world upon this world, dark hearted creature. Are you telling me that now, even by your own rules, that you are not willing to pay the price for what you have done, a price that you have always demanded that others pay?"

The Shadow Being moved a little closer and the other retreated a step.

"You first found this place ages ago when the human, Ethan, stumbled into your world. At first you were curious, for you felt the sadness, depravity and evil that the man brought with him. But when you looked closer at the human, you discovered that it was not the human himself that was evil, and that the stench he brought with him was something coming from this world and it was at that time that you decided to take a closer look."

The two started to circle each other, neither taking their eyes off the one standing in front of them.

"You wanted to see and experience what this world had to offer so you opened the doorway between this world and your own then allowed creatures from your world to enter this one. You knew by their very presence that pain and despair would be drawn to them - and that was a delicacy that you could not pass up. It was a feast, it was delicious, but now it is over."

Once-human stepped sideways in an attempt to evade the being in front of it but seemingly without effort or thought, the Shadow Being mirrored his moves and managed to effortlessly keep its position. Without turning around the Shadow waved a hand and the creatures from Lament disappeared.

"I have lifted the veil and the others once again recognize reality, and now that your foul companions have been sent back from whence they came, it is time for you to follow them."

Though admitting that he was nervous was not something Once-human would admit to, he now found himself just that – nervous. He then tried to justify his actions, something he had not had to do since he had become what he was.

"I did not open the door, Lament did that, and now that it has been opened, it will not close until I get what I came for – a soul – that has always been the way of things and that is how things will remain."

When the Shadow Being laughed, while the others could tell that it was a laugh, they could also tell that it was humorless at best. The two continue to circle each other moving around the great wooden pillars and furniture of the Hall while the silent elves and humans watched everything intently.

"Even now you cannot speak the truth, for it was not Lament that opened the door just as it was not the Wizard's magic that held it open. It was you ... you broke your own rules just to indulge your perverted appetites. Lament long ago forgot its purpose, but you have not. You are what you are because you truly believe that all life consists only of pain and pleasure and only exists to feed the perversions of you and your kind. You are both pitiful and pitiable at best."

Once-human sensed that a wall was now directly behind him and that he had nowhere else to go – he was trapped.

"Wherever there is hate, violence and depravity, there will always be a door and no being needs the permission of another to come through it. I merely used what was there - and I am so very glad that I did, for this has truly been a memorable experience."

The Shadow Being seemed to grow larger with its anger and once more, Once-human found himself trying to move sideways and away from the one in front of him who mirrored his every move and kept the distance between them always the same.

"This world is full of delicious treats and is a place where even the mighty race of Eldar have hands stained with the blood of their kin. The bloody conflicts of this place are almost sensual in their nature and the results of those conflicts will be enough to satisfy even my appetites for pleasure and pain for life ages to come."

The Shadow Being grew a bit taller and the shadows within it seemed to pulse with its anger.

"I can see into your soul, foul creature, and I know the lust that lays within your black heart for the pain and despair of others. But in this world, in this place, your appetites are not welcomed ... you must go back."

The two finally came to a stop, one in front of the other, then Once-human spoke one last time.

"I will not go back until I get what I came for, and to do otherwise is not an option and will not be considered, for such is the way of my world and my life."

There was a pause then a deathly silence as the Shadow Being pondered Once-human's words. There was a breathy sigh.

"You say that you must have a soul before you can leave and it will only be by the blood of this soul that the doorway will be closed – then by your own words, so it will be. The final soul ... is yours!"

Having anticipated each other, Once-human called for the restraints from his world just as the light from the Shadow Being pulsed. Metal restraints, spears of white hot light and many other manner of devilry flew toward the Shadow Being. Raising its hands, there was a flash of light and all the devices bounced away from it and fell impotently to the ground. The light continued its journey and Once-human raised his own hands, pushing against the barrier that was slowly forcing him back toward his own world.

The floor of the Hall of Fire began to buckle as great fissures opened up and the ceiling and walls around the two beings were rent with the efforts of the battle. Then, behind Once-human, a doorway opened up and just beyond it, everyone in the Hall could see the Hallways of Lament, once more dark and foreboding. With a final cry, Once-human made one last attempt and tried in vain to push away the magical barrier of the Shadow Being, and being unsuccessful, he then lowered his hands and bowed his head in defeat.

The noise in the room died away and the physical torment of the room stopped. There was a complete and absolute silence as the two beings stared at each other one last time. Then the Once-human nodded to the other and after one last look around and with a sigh, turned and stepped through the doorway that had opened up behind him. It quickly closed up, closing off Lament from Middle-earth forever.

8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

The elves and humand had pressed themselves up against the wall and had covered their heads when the doorway had been opened during the battle, but when the noise and tremors had stopped, they had once more stood. Now, the house began to tremble and rumbled once more and the battle weary beings, having few nerves left to endure whatever was happening, once again huddled together on the floor and covered their heads to protect themselves. The house shook violently and creaked and groaned but rather than additional damage occurring, the Last Homely House of Lord Elrond of Imladris began to repair itself. When the final rumble had died away to silence and all was still once more, the elves and humans rose to their feet and looked around.

There was no damage to be seen - anywhere. The house had been healed and normalcy had been returned to it and its inhabitants. When those in the room looked for their champion, they saw it exiting the room through the far door.

"Anayah, wait a minute."

Though Elladan called out as did his brothers and even Legolas, the Shadow Being kept moving away from them and by the time the group had reached the Common Room, it had disappeared from sight.

"I want to know how she did that pulsing light thing." Elrohir said excitedly.

"She blasted him there at the end - and with barely an effort."

"A truly exciting and incredible experience." Elladan added in a dramatic fashion.

"Stop right there this instant."

Gandalf's eyes were sparking with ire as he fixed each of the younger elves and humans with a steely gaze. Not even the elder elves were exempt as they stopped to listen as well.

"What happened here this night was not incredible nor was it exciting or deserving of any other grand word you may want to apply. Do any of you ..." he looked at each one in turn, "have any idea whatsoever, just how close we came to killing each other? Do any of you have any idea, and think hard on this, of how it would feel if we laid down to rest and woke up without Elladan or Elrohir or Aragorn or Legolas, and one of us knew that we were the ones that took their lives? I think exciting, interesting and any other notion of that type should be put away in the closet for a time. Do some thinking on just how close we came to the act of murder – and once you have considered the possibilities involved, then tell me how exciting and interesting that particular battle was."

He turned and looked at the elder elves and even the Guards who were all looking at him with wide eyes.

"Now, I think it would benefit all of us if we would all go to the infirmary so we can have ourselves taken care of so we can quit bleeding all over the floor."

With a little more decorum than before, the group made their way to the infirmary but when they had arrived and stepped inside the room, they froze. Anayah was sleeping soundly as was Greyfell who was sitting beside her bed with his head resting on his arms. He jumped, but woke quickly when Elrond laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Captain ... has Anayah been asleep this whole time?"

Greyfell stifled a yawn then blinked his eyes to clear the sleep from them.

"She woke up for a few minutes right after everyone left then went back to sleep and has been that way ever since. Why?"

Elrond looked at Greyfell closely, instinctively knowing that the Captain was not telling him _all_ the facts but also knew that particular moment was not the time to press him. He looked at the others for a moment before turning his attention back to the elf in front of him.

"It's a long story Captain, but one that can wait until we are all taken care of and have eaten a meal and slept in our own beds. How are you feeling?"

He laid the back of his fingers on Greyfell's forehead and frowned then without waiting for a response, pointed to the bed on the other side of Anayah.

"To bed, Captain, for you are starting to run a mild fever."

When Greyfell nodded then rose and staggered in the general direction of the door, Lord Elrond caught him by the arm and escorted him back to the bed he had pointed out to him moments before.

"I want you in here for this night, at least. I want to monitor your fever and make sure none of the wounds you received in Lament are getting infected."

Greyfell didn't argue - he was too tired to do so - and lay down on the bed, asleep almost before his head hit the pillow. After taking the elf's boots off and covering him with a light blanket, Elrond turned to the others and began helping his sons tend to everyone's injuries.

It was some time later when the elf Lord noticed the silence around him and when he looked up was surprised to see that even though his sons were still seeing to the wounds of the others that they as well as everyone else were all looking at him intently. He then un-Lordly like shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't have an explanation. I thought it was Anayah just as you did but now ... well, I am not so sure."

As one, all heads then turned to look at Gandalf. Having just put the last stitches in Elrohir, Elrond walked to the Wizard and laid a conspiratorial arm across his shoulders.

"Come on now, Gandalf. I bet you can at least make a guess."

Aragorn was looking at Gandalf through narrowed eyes.

"You know, don't you?"

Gandalf couldn't help himself and smiled. He was immediately surrounded by three elves and a human, all talking at the same time and demanding that the Wizard tell them the identity of the Shadow Being.

"Come on, Gandalf. Tell us."

Gandalf chuckled.

"All right. I will tell you, but only because you will drive me mad with your incessant begging if I don't. The Shadow Being, our champion, was ..."

"Rachel Westerlake, you turn off that computer and that television this instant and come down to dinner. This is the third time I have called you and I don't think _that_ shows any manners whatsoever, especially from a college student. If you are not down here in ten minutes, I will feed your dinner to your cat!"

Rachel raised her head off her arms and after freeing one arm, made a gesture, with her thumb and first two fingers, that was meant to mimic a mouth.

"Blah, blah, blah." She said in between yawns.

Without looking Rachel reached to the other side of her computer and picked up the remote to the television and turned it off. She then looked to her stack of books and groaned as she thought of all the homework she had yet to do. She had been doing research all night for a term paper on the horror movie genre by watching horror movies and had fallen asleep. Sleeping almost the entire day away with one's head cradled on one's arms, was not the most restful way to sleep although for a third year college student it was considered pretty standard fare. She laid her head back down on her arms, mumbling as she did so.

"I'm just going to close my eyes for a minute."

She was fast asleep 30 seconds later.

"Anayah? Anayah, can you hear me? Open your eyes for me, daughter."

Anayah groaned, for her head hurt too bad to open her eyes and she knew if she could only get back to the pain-free state of unconsciousness she had been in that she could sleep through the healing phase of whatever had happened to her that was making her feel like a troll had just used her body as a door mat to wipe his feet on. Unfortunately, it appeared to her that her father had other plans for her.

"Anayah, I need for you to wake up. Open your eyes, please."

Knowing that her father wouldn't shut up until she obeyed him, she dutifully opened her eyes – one at a time – then groaned and shut them again. She felt as a hand was laid over her eyes and without even being asked, tried again. As soon as her eyes had adjusted to the light, her father removed his hand.

She looked around her at the group of anxious elves and Aragorn.

"What did I do to myself this time? Did one of those beasts from Lament knock me down the stairs?" She stopped speaking when she saw the puzzled looks on everyone's faces.

"Daughter, I don't know what you are talking about."

She frowned.

"We didn't just spend the night running from and killing all sorts of nasty beasties then almost destroyed the Hall of Fire in the 80th Battle of Dagorlad?"

"No," her father began, "actually, you were running down the stairs like you know you are not supposed to, and for this very reason, and you missed a step, fell and knocked yourself out."

"Oh." Was all she said.

Her father helped her to her feet.

"How are you feeling? Is there any pain or dizziness, nausea or feeling like you're floating?"

"Not to worry, Ada, I feel just fine."

She had no sooner spoken the words when her ears started to buzz, her vision tunneled and she fainted dead away.

She was comfortable, without any pain whatsoever in the darkness she was floating in – and this fact pleased her greatly. Then she felt something and smiled. Someone had brushed her cheek with his fingers and she could tell by his touch just who that someone was.

"You're finally waking up."

She opened her eyes and looked around the room, noticing that she and her father were the only ones in the infirmary.

"How is everybody? And is this thing finally over?"

"To answer your questions, everyone is feeling better all the time." Elrond sighed. "It will be some time before any of us will be able to sleep without a glow globe burning in our rooms. As to your second question – yes, it is over and all is once more well in Imladris."

He looked at her seriously as he brushed a piece of hair off her forehead.

"How about you? How are you doing?"

Anayah sighed sadly then shivered involuntarily as she remembered the events of the night before.

"I was having some really strange dreams … something about a human named Rachel and some man named Freddy. What kind of a name is Freddy? But truly, Ada, I'm sad, frightened, and horrified that something like this could actually happen. I don't think that for the rest of my life that I will ever forget the things I saw and experienced as I am sure nobody else will either. To think the beings and creatures like the ones we encountered could have actually existed at one time … I just …"

Anayah couldn't finish her sentence and burst out crying. Elrond helped her sit up after he had wrapped his arms around her, he held her and rocked her, trying to comfort the fears he knew she was still experiencing, for her feelings were a mirror of what the rest of them had been going through.

There were the sounds of quiet footsteps and when Elrond looked up saw that all those involved in the drama of the night before were now gathering around the bed.

"Anayah?" Gandalf spoke gently and quietly as he tried to get Anayah's attention. "Child, look at me a moment."

Anayah raised tear-filled eyes until she was looking at the old wizard who smiled at her.

"The sun once more shines down on your home and as of this morning, when the household help arrived for work, we learned that they experienced nothing last night. In fact, it did not even rain, according to some elves that we talked to."

Their conversation was interrupted when an elf came into the room carrying a long parcel wrapped in red linen. After handing the parcel to Elladan, the elf bowed then left. There was a simple piece of unadorned parchment attached to the parcel and as his brothers and Legolas watched, he opened the parchment and read the short message.

_You left these behind. We are sorry. Lament_

When the parcel was unwrapped, Anayah gasped, for Guruthos and Greyfell's sword, both cleaned of the soils of battle had been what the parcel had contained. Anayah burst into tears once again and once more her father wrapped comforting arms around her. The others waited, looking at her with concern until she was once more calm and could finally look at all of them.

"NEVER, and I do mean NEVER do I ever want to hear another ghost story … for the rest of my life." Anayah said as she dabbed at her puffy eyes with a piece of clean linen.

The others laughed, for it was a fact that they all felt the same way.

_"The Darkside is always there  
...waiting for us to enter;  
...waiting to enter us.  
Until next time,  
try to enjoy the daylight."_

_**Happy Halloween!**_

**COMING TOMORROW**: Chapter 10 - Epilogue: The inside information on what happened the night the world known as Lament stopped by Imladris for a visit.


	10. Epilogue

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_AH, broken is the golden bowl! The spirit flown forever!  
Let the bell toll!—a saintly soul floats on the Stygian river;  
And, Guy De Vere, hast thou no tear?—weep now or nevermore!  
Edgar Allan Poe_

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Chapter 10

Epilogue

Glorfindel sat by the bedside of his friend, the human called Ethan, and held the man's hand gently in his own while looking down at his peaceful face. It was hard to imagine that this was the same man that had fought by his side not that many months before and who had endured so much yet had managed to suffer through and survive his ordeal with a determination that would have made any elf proud.

But now, the years that had passed the man by while he had been an unwilling inhabitant of the world called Lament, had caught up with him. Oh so tenderly, Glorfindel reached out and smoothed the thinning white hair back from the wrinkled brow. As he did, the man's eyes came open and looked at him for a moment, and when he finally recognized him, his entire face lit up with a smile.

"Ah, my Lord Glorfindel, you have come to visit me at last." He said in his old man's voice that crackled from a throat dry and raspy from age and disuse.

The elf Lord smiled.

"I have not left your side since last you laid your head on your pillow, my friend ... just as I promised."

Glorfindel's eyes stung from trying to hold back his tears and though he was old, Ethan didn't miss the effort. He lifted his free hand from beneath the covers and placed it over the strong hand of the elf Lord.

"Don't grieve for me, Glorfindel. I am not an elf, but am just a man and I am over 2,000 years old – this is not my time." Ethan sighed deeply. "Death is not so bad ... I am ready for it." He clasped the elf Lord's hand one last time. "I will miss you."

The man's last words were no more than a whisper, then after smiling a soft, peaceful smile, sighed deeply and exhaled both breath and life.

And so it was that the land finally laid itself down to rest for a season, covering itself with a blanket of white, the first gentle snow of winter. And as it fell into its final slumber of the season, so too, did the human named Ethan, 2000 and some years too late, with his friend, the blonde haired elf lord, Glorfindel of Gondolin and of Imladris, by his side and looking into his eyes as they closed for the final time.

"Sleep well, my friend," he said quietly and gently as he caressed the man's brow, "for you earned this rest a long time ago. There will come a day ... some far off day, when we will see each other again, when we will sit peacefully in front of a warm fire and share a glass of fine wine. It is then that we will tell stories of long before and of better times, times that we will remember fondly, and gladly. Until then, I can only say that I will miss you as well."

Glorfindel picked up the man's hand and held it to his heart, then bowing his head, he finally gave in to his grief and wept. Above the small room where he now kept the watch over his friend, in the great bell tower of the Last Homely House of Lord Elrond of Imladris, the bell was rung by unseen hands. Six times the great bell cried out - six times it voiced its grief for the passing of a man who had endured much and who would always be fondly remembered for his courage and endurance.

8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

Well, the ride is over and the time has come to let everyone know exactly what happened over the course of the story.

Was it a scary story? Hopefully, for it was written specifically for Halloween, the scariest night of the year. But if you care to think back over the story and look just a little bit deeper, you can see positive things as well as evil, for in mythology or reality, one can not exist without the other. There were grand examples of honor, loyalty, love and true and abiding friendships over distances and time unimaginable - all concepts most minds would have trouble understanding under the tests my characters were forced to endure.

Was it a crossover story? Yes and no again, depending on your perspective. You have to remember that Middle-earth is a mythological world as was the world of Lament. In the grand scheme of things, even considering that we are talking about the realm of imagination and make-believe, the chances of something like this happening are infinitesimal although in my world, it did happen – two worlds came together and for a small span of time, occupied the same space at the same time.

It was a personal choice to deal with the effects of this phenomena on Middle-earth but not on the world called Lament because this was, after all, a Lord of the Rings, based story, written from the point of view of the inhabitants of Arda and in particular, of the inhabitants of the House of Elrond.

Writing such a story in this fashion was difficult for me to do without giving away the little surprises although I would hope that some of my readers might have guessed. What were the little surprises?

Ok. Here goes ...

**The world called Lament** was, in fact, the personification of the puzzle box called the Lament Configuration that Author Clive Barker made so popular in the Hellraiser movies. Allegedly, the puzzle box was the Hell Dimension and there are those who claim that it was also a doorway between two worlds, hence my idea for this story. Once this doorway has been opened, the inhabitants from Lament had to take a being/soul back with them to convert to their own kind.

I gave Lament a consciousness and self-will – not free will, but self-will, and also made it, not only the Hell Dimension but the home of some of the most evil and murderous beings that had ever walked through anybody's imagination. Truly fun stuff.

**The room of light and sanctuary that existed in the heart of Lament**: The reason that the nobody could read the book at first and could only remember basic facts about it after they left the world called Lament was simple ... tainted timeline. The basic similarities between the two worlds were acceptable but to introduce such concepts as the typewriter, modern paper, or even the concept of Hell to the inhabitants of Middle-earth would have caused some horrific ripples in the great cosmic timeline, something that could not be allowed to happen.

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**The Shadow Horde**: The Shadow Horde consisted of a multitude of small faceless beings from Lament whose only function was to hurt and destroy. The problems with these creatures was that there were so many of them and even though Thranduil, Glorfindel, Semoro, Saeros were great warriors and even Ethan could kill his fare share of the nasty creatures, they all still had their hands full.

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**The Dark-skinned Man**: The evil being met by Aragorn and Legolas, also known as the "dark skinned man," was the Candyman and the experience of our two "brothers of the heart" was a test of their trust and loyalty in each other. The Candyman was once a man by the name of Daniel Robitaille, and was an ex-slave turned artist who committed an unthinkable act for the era in which he lived by falling in love and having an affair with his client's daughter. As punishment for his great crime, his right hand was cut off, his body was covered in honey and he was allowed to be stung to death by bees while the relatives watched. As the myth went, if anyone said his name five times while looking in the mirror, he would appear behind that person and would kill them with the hook he wore on his severed hand.

The problem I faced with this particular character, was that none of the characters involved were familiar with modern terms for the dark-skinned race and so they just referred to Robitaille as the "dark-skinned man." Neither were they familiar with modern day writing, modern even referring to the era in which Robitaille had lived and so wouldn't have been able to read, write or recognize his name in the mist covered mirror in the bathing room. Aragorn had traced all five occurrences of the word with his fingers and as the ghost of Robitaille had said, "Close enough."

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**The Bat Shapeshifter**: Elrond met the heinous murderer who was, of course ... Dracula, also known by some as Count Vladislaus Dracula or Vlad the Impaler in our mythology, and the elf Lord's test, was of his perceptiveness, or his ability to see beyond what his eyes and heart told him was real until he came upon the truth. Everyone should be pretty much familiar with Dracula and this character wasn't all that hard to write, considering that Middle-earth mythology contained a character named Thuringwethil, who was the bat-servant of Sauron, also known as Thu.

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**The Shapeshifter/Wolfman**: Elladan and Elrohir met the wolfman, more commonly known as the werewolf, a shapeshifter also a part of Middle-earth mythology. Their twin bond was sorely tested when it appeared that Elladan was going to die from injuries received when he was mauled by the creature. The two did what they had to do and even though they were in a world quite different from their own and even though time was skewed, they still managed to not only maintain the bond only another twin could understand, but also finally defeated the wolfman and took it back to Lament.

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**The Skinny Man**: Gandalf was paired up with the "skinny man," as he was referred to and it was the wizard's power that was tested. Power had corrupted his adversary, but it was the power of Gandalf's heart that finally won the day ... that and a sausage of course.

In case none of you have been able to figure it out by now, Gandalf fought Freddy Kruger, who according to legend was a maniacal murderer with a twisted and sarcastic sense of humor whose favorite weapons were his finger knives and whose favorite victims were teenagers and children. The problem with the writing of the Freddy character was that none of the Middle-earth characters would have known that Freddy's death had occurred when he had been burned to death and so would naturally have thought that his face was somehow deformed. Neither would anyone have known that Freddy's finger knives were called that and so referred to them as they did.

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I liked writing every character I used, but these last two were my personal favorites.

**The Large Man**: Captain Rahan fought Jason Voorhees, who as a young child, drowned while at summer camp and who came back to avenge his mother's murder and who liked doing what he did so much that he stayed to continue his work. Although I never could find out just how big the character actually was, I thought the perfect match for this murderer would be the Thurin Tirith Captain who stood 6'6" tall and weighed 450 pounds.

Strength and tenacity ... oh yes ... there was plenty of that as Captain Rahan went right to the edge while fighting this demon. The interesting part about this character was that none of the Middle-earth inhabitants would know what a hockey mask was and so naturally thought that the man's face was expressionless and deformed, and none of them would have known what a machete was and so referred to Jason's weapon as a short sword.

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**Once-human**: Then there was the "Engineer" of it all, a true voyeur and connoisseur of both pain and pleasure, a being who came to be known as "Once-human." Of course I am talking about the head "Engineer" from the Hell Dimension, Pinhead, a being from Clive Barker's Hellraiser series.

You may remember that when Anayah was bedeviling and distracting Pinhead, she kept calling him Elliot. Pinhead, when he was still human, was a man by the name of Elliot Spencer who was a Captain during World War II. When researching this character, I learned that Elliot Spencer "…became a pain monger thirsty for inflicting the same kind of pain his past self received for playing with the box."

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And who was the Shadow Being? I can tell you truly that it was NOT Anayah. It was

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**A/N**: There was a dream sequence in Chapter 9 that needs a little clarification. The sequence with the college student, Rachel Westerlake, then when Anayah fell down the stairs, was only a dream she was having. Why did both dreams seem connected? I was reaching a little bit here, but just like how Lament and the House of Elrond could be in the same place at the same time, so could the worlds in which Anayah's dreams were actually reality. If you still don't understand, email me and I will explain a little further.

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I don't want to get in trouble from the powers that be by writing long review responses, but I did want to thank:

Thanks to NanaHalfElven, friend, confidante, muse and the smartest woman on the face of the planet.

Also, a million thanks to CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur, Laer 4572, Black as Shadows, and Adrieal Kenobi and her Crazy Frog for writing reviews. If I forgot anybody, please email me and let me know.

To the 1,000 + readers who just read the story but didn't get a chance to review, my thanks to you for taking the time to read the story. I sincerely hope that all of you were entertained … at least for awhile.

**Hannon-le a Namarië Mellyn-nín!**


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